March 21, 2008

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MSU Head Coach Erica Perkins

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COMING UP
The Michigan State women's tennis team squares off in its first Big Ten matches of the year, entertaining the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday, March 22 and No. 55 Illinois on Sunday, March 23. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility in East Lansing.

LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans defeated Eastern Michigan, 5-2, on Wednesday, March 12 at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. Stephanie Kebler had a big day for Michigan State, teaming up with Lindsey Lonergan as they downed Falvia Micati and Aleksandra Stankovic, 8-1, at No. 3 doubles. Kebler then finished it off with a dominating 6-0, 6-1, victory over Catharina Bestehorn.

Michigan State came out strong as it took the early lead, winning two of three doubles matches. In addition to the win at No. 3, Ana Milosavljevic and Manon Noe secured the doubles point for the Spartans, after blanking Adita Krishnan and Joanna Woo, 8-0.

In singles play, MSU swept flights 3-6, as Milosavljevic picked up her team-leading 17th victory of the year, defeating Woo, 6-3, 6-3, in the fifth flight. At No. 4, Lonergan picked up the straight set victory over EMU's Stankovic, 7-5, 6-1, while Ally Wickman recorded her fifth victory in dual-match play of the season, blowing out Micati, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 6 singles.

SCOUTING PURDUE
The Boilermakers are 2-8 on the season (0-1 Big Ten), and are coming off a 6-1 defeat to Long Beach State on Wednesday, March 12 in West Lafayette. Stephanie Wooten holds the best record in singles dual-match play for Purdue, owning a record of 5-3 at No. 3. No. 1 singles Brooke Beier sits with a mark of 5-5 in dual-match play. At No. 2 doubles Beier and Alejandra Boeker are 2-0 in dual-match play. Purdue has dropped six-straight matches dating back to Feb. 16.

A LOOK AT THE FIGHTING ILLINI
No. 55 Illinois is 5-6 on the season (1-0 Big Ten) following a 4-3 loss to Princeton in Puerto Rico. At No. 5 singles, Momei Qu is 6-1, while Megan Fudge holds a 6-4 mark at No. 1. Fudge and Leigh Finnegan own a record of 4-7 at No. 1 doubles.

ON FIRE
Freshman Lindsey Lonergan has won five of her last six matches, improving her mark to 9-4 in dual-match play and 15-7 overall. Lonergan has teamed up with teammate Stephanie Kebler at No. 3 doubles the last four matches, going 3-1 and defeating their opponents by a 31-14 margin. Junior Ana Milosavljevic has won six straight matches at No. 5 singles, and five of her last six in doubles play.

KEY PLAYERS
Ana Milosavljevic is having an outstanding season for the Green and White, as she leads the team in singles (17) and doubles (17) wins. In dual-match play this spring, Milosavljevic has posted a mark of 9-3 in singles and 10-3 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 (8-5) at No. 2, and Lindsey Lonergan (8-3) at No. 4.

DETERMINING DOUBLES
Michigan State is 8-1 when winning the doubles point, compared to 0-4 when losing the doubles flights.

UP NEXT
The Spartans play their last non-conference match of the season as they play host to No. 35 Washington on Wednesday, March 26 at 2 p.m.