March 25, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

COMING UP
The Michigan State women's tennis team will compete in its last non-conference matchup of the season, playing host to No. 35 Washington at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility on Wednesday, March 26 at 2 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State fell to No. 55 Illinois yesterday afternoon, 4-3, in a highly-contested match at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility in East Lansing.

The Fighting Illini came out and took the early 1-0 lead on the Spartans, winning two of three doubles flights. MSU's Stephanie Kebler and Lindsey Lonergan defeated Kristina Minor and Christine Stromberg, 8-5, as they recorded their fifth doubles victory in their last six matches. But Illinois was too strong at the No. 1 and 2 positions, as MSU's Christine Bader and Whitney Wilson fell to Megan Fudge and Shivani Dave, 8-4, while Manon Noe and Ana Milosavljevic lost to Illinois' Leigh Finnegan and Marisa Lambropoulos, 9-7.

In singles action, MSU's No. 1 Bader displayed a dominating performance, making short work of Finnegan, 6-1, 6-1, and knotting the score at 1-1. At No. 2, Noe fell to Fudge, 6-0, 6-4, but MSU's Kebler took down Lambropoulos minutes later, 6-3, 6-2, tying the score again at 2-2. At No. 5, Illinois Momei Qu handed Milosavljevic her first loss in eight matches, taking out the Spartan junior in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. At No. 6, Ally Wickman's comeback bid was cut short, as she was defeated by Illinois' Minor, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, to clinch the match for Illinois. In the last match of the afternoon, MSU's Lonergan completed her comeback, outlasting Dave in a marathon match, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 4.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
No. 35 Washington is 10-6 in dual-match play this season and has a mark of 0-5 in the Pac-10, following a 5-2 loss to No. 60 Oregon on Monday. The Huskies began the season 8-1, but have dropped five of their last seven matches, including losses to No. 3 Stanford, No. 11 California, No. 7 USC and No. 9 UCLA. Ranked No. 30 in the nation, freshman Venise Chan leads the Huskies with a 13-3 dual-match play record and is 19-5 overall. No. 99 senior Tara Simpson has posted a mark of 12-3 in dual-match play at No. 3 singles, and sits at 19-6 on the year. Chen and freshman Kelsey Anonsen lead the doubles teams in wins, as they have recorded a mark of 10-6 at No. 2 in dual-match competition.

TOP SPARTAN
Junior Ana Milosavljevic is having an outstanding season for the Green and White, as she leads the team in singles (18) and doubles (18) wins. In dual-match play this spring, Milosavljevic has posted a mark of 10-4 in singles and 11-4 in doubles play.

WINNING IS CONTAGIOUS
The Spartans have a winning record at all six of the singles positions in dual-match play so far. MSU's best records have come from freshman Lindsey Lonergan (10-3) at No. 4, and junior Stephanie Kebler (9-4) at No. 3.

ON FIRE
Freshman Lindsey Lonergan has won six of her last seven matches, improving her mark to 11-4 in dual-match play and 17-7 overall. Lonergan has teamed up with Stephanie Kebler at No. 3 doubles the last six matches, going 5-1 and holding a 47-21 game edge over their opponent.

DETERMINING DOUBLES
Michigan State is 9-1 when winning the doubles point, compared to 0-5 when losing the doubles flights.

UP NEXT
Michigan State goes on the road for the first time in three weeks, as they travel to Bloomington, Ind., for a showdown with No. 32 Indiana at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 28. Last Time Out