March 22, 2008

Results

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's tennis team started off Big Ten play with a bang on Saturday, as it took out Purdue, 6-1, at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility in East Lansing. Michigan State, (9-5), swept the doubles point from Purdue, (2-9), and took the momentum into singles, capturing five out of six matches.

The Spartans came out looking strong, and took the early 1-0 lead after sweeping a very tight doubles competition. At No. 1, Christine Bader and Whitney Wilson edged Purdue's Brooke Beier and Stephanie Wooten, 9-7, while MSU's Manon Noe and Ana Milosavljevic clipped Cigdem Duru and Joanna Craven in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-3), at No. 2. In three doubles, MSU's Stephanie Kebler and Lindsey Lonergan dominated Anna Dzeva and Alejandra Boeker, 8-2. Kebler and Lonergan are now 4-1 in their last five doubles matches.

"The doubles point was huge," said MSU head coach Erica Perkins. "Lindsey and Stephanie looked really strong at No. 3. They played aggressively and the quick win really helped our momentum. I was really pleased with Whitney and Christine's play at No. 1. They got down a break point twice, and fought back to clinch it."

In singles action, Kebler put the Spartans up 2-1, after a convincing win over Duru, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 3. At No. 6, Ally Wickman put the next point on the board for MSU, as she defeated Boeker, 6-3, 6-4. Lonergan pulled out a marathon match over Craven, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, to clinch the win for the Spartans. At No. 5, Milosavljevic picked up her seventh-straight victory, edging Dzeva in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, while Bader finished the match with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 defeat of Beier.

"This is a big win for us today," Perkins said. "I was happy with our energy in singles. We came out with great energy up and down the line. It is always nice to start conference play with a win. Every player competed hard, and when we do that we can put ourselves in position to win against just about anyone. Unfortunately we can't really spend much time enjoying the win as we have a tough task tomorrow in Illinois, which should be a fight from start to finish."

The women's tennis team continues action tomorrow, as it plays host to Illinois at 11 a.m. at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility.