March 11, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

COMING UP
The Michigan State women's tennis team plays its first of four-straight home matches, squaring off against Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, March 12 at 4 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans traveled to Huntington, W. Va., last Saturday for a showdown with No. 55 Marshall. The Thundering Herd looked strong as they sent MSU home with a 6-1 loss.

Marshall came out and took the momentum from the Spartans as it picked up two of three doubles matches, and gained the early 1-0 lead. At No. 1 doubles, No. 16 Marshall's Kellie Schmitt and Karolina Soor defeated MSU's Christine Bader and Whitney Wilson, 8-4, while MSU's Lindsey Lonergan and Stephanie Kebler fell at No. 3 to Yulia Kashelkina and Jessica Keener, 9-7. Ana Milosavljevic and Manon Noe picked up the win at No. 2 doubles for MSU, downing Isabell Raich and Thaddea Lock, 8-6. Milosavljevic now has a team-leading individual record of 16-6 in doubles this season.

In singles play, the Spartans put up a fight, bringing two of the six singles flights into third sets, but the Thundering Herd put the ball in play when it counted the most, taking five of six matches. At No. 1, MSU's Bader fell to No. 107 Schmitt, 6-2, 7-5, while Raich took out Lonergan at No. 4, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.

SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN
Eastern Michigan is 4-8 in dual-match play this season, and coming off a 5-2 loss to the University of Illinois-Chicago last Sunday. The Eagles have lost three-straight matches, while falling in five of their last six contests. Vanessa Frankowski leads the team statistically with a 15-10 singles record, while posting a mark of 6-4 in dual-match play at No. 1 singles. In doubles play, Aleksandra Stankovic and Sandra Wikstrom have the most wins in dual-match play, with a record of 4-3.

ON FIRE
Lindsey Lonergan has won four of her last five matches, and now has a mark of 8-4 in dual-match play, and is 14-7 overall. Lonergan has teamed up with teammate Stephanie Kebler at No. 3 doubles the last three matches, going 2-1 and defeating their opponents by a 23-13 margin.

KEY PLAYERS
Junior Ana Milosavljevic is having an outstanding season for the Green and White, as she leads the team in singles (16) and doubles (16) wins. In dual-match play this spring, Milosavljevic has posted a mark of 8-3 in singles and 9-3 in doubles play.

SINGLES SUCCESS
The Spartans have a winning record at five of the six singles positions in dual-match play so far. MSU's best records have come from young freshmen Manon Noe (8-4) at No. 2, and Lindsey Lonergan (7-3) at No. 4.

BIG TEN PLAY
The Spartans begin conference play, as they host Purdue on Saturday, March 22. Conference competition will once again be tough this year, as seven Big Ten teams are currently ranked in the top 75 in the nation.