April 23, 2008

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Head Coach Erica Perkins
Senior Christine Bader
Junior Stephanie Kebler
Freshman Whitney Wilson

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2008 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Michigan State women's tennis team is set to compete at the women's Big Ten Champoionships in West Lafayette, Ind., hosted by Purdue University. First-round action is set to begin on Thursday, April 24, as they Spartans take on Wisconsin at the Shwartz Tennis Center at 12 p.m. ET.

2007 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Penn State got the best of the Spartans in the first round of last year's Big Ten Championships, taking out MSU, 5-2.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State lost in its regular-season finale, 5-2, to Wisconsin last Sunday afternoon at the Nielsen Tennis Center. MSU fell behind early, 1-0, after surrending the doubles point. The Badgers hung tough in singles, beating the Spartans in four of six matches. MSU's Stephanie Kebler and Manon Noe both won their matches in super tiebreakers for the third set, as Kebler took out Emese Kardhordo, 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-5), while Noe defeated Jessica Seyferth, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (13-11).

Wisconsin jumped on the Spartans early, sweeping a highly contested doubles competition. At No. 1, Christine Bader and Whitney Wilson fell to UW's Seyferth and Chelsea Nusslock, 8-4, while MSU's Noe and Ana Milosavljevic were edged by Elizabeth Carpenter and Morgan Tuttle in the tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-2), at No. 2. In flight three, MSU's Kebler and Lindsey Lonergan were clipped in a close match against Kardhordo and Katya Mirnova, 9-7.

Things didn't get much better for the Spartans in singles play, taking only two matches. Milosavljevic roared back in the second set of her match at No. 5 after losing the first set. But Wisconsin's Nusslock turned up the tempo in the third frame, defeating the Spartan junior, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

A LOOK BACK
The Spartans had a good start to the dual-match season, winning four of their first six matches. MSU enjoyed a successful non-conference season, and capped it off with a big 6-1 win over No. 35 Washington, the best win in program history. Michigan State started slow in conference play, posting a 1-3 record, but rebounded quickly with two big wins over Minnesota and Iowa. The Spartans would catch some tough breaks from there, running into No. 26 Michigan and dropping a close one to Penn State, 4-3. To end the regular-season, MSU hit the road for a tall task against top-ranked Northwestern, and the Wildcats handed State the 7-0 loss. MSU looked to rebound versus Wisconsin, but the Badgers came out hungry for their last Big Ten win, as the Spartans fell, 5-2.

TOUGH COMPETITION
The Big Ten Conference is considered one of the toughest in college tennis, and 2008 proved to be no different. The Spartans were 9-5 in non-conference matches, before going 3-7 in Big Ten play. Nine teams are currently ranked in the top 75 in the nation, while every team in the Big Ten was ranked in the top 75 at some point during the 2008 season.

SITTING AT THE TOP
Junior Stephanie Kebler led the Spartans in overall wins on the season, finishing with a record of 20-15, going 13-9 in dual-play. Kebler's biggest win of the season came on Feb. 3 when she defeated No. 72 North Carolina's Austin Smith, 6-3, 6-4.

20-WIN PLATEAU
With her 20-15 ovoerall mark in the 2007-08 season, Stephanie Kebler has hit the 20-win plateau for the second time in her career, after finished with a record of 24-12 in her freshman campaign, Fellow junior Ana Milosavljevic has reached the mark for the first time in her career, posting a record of 20-14 in doubles play.

GOING BACK-TO-BACK
The Spartans have recorded back-to-back wins on five seperate occassions this season. MSU's most important back-to-back performances came on April 5 in a 4-3 win over No. 57 Minnesota, and on April 6 with another one-point victory over No. 46 Iowa, 4-3.

SENIORTY RULES
Senior Christine Bader had the best season of her career at Michigan State, finishing with a 18-14 overall mark, including 12-12 in dual-match play. Bader's best wins of the season came on Feb. 24 when she defeated No. 89 East Tennessee's Yevgenia Stupak, 7-6, 6-3, and on March 26 when she took out No. 30 Venise Chan, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, helping the Spartans to a big win over No. 35 Washington.

FRESHMEN HELP
Five of the primarily-eight athleties used in this season's lineup were freshmen. The first-year duo of Lindsey Lonergan and Manon Noe have put a spark in the Spartan lineup, as Lonergan finished one win shy of a 20-win season, going 19-14 overall, while Noe posted an overall record of 17-17. Ally Wickman and Whitney Wilson have helped fill in at the bottom of the lineup, combining for an 18-15 mark between No. 5 and 6 singles. The doubles pair of Lonergan and Noe have a record of 3-3 in dual-match play, including a 3-1 mark at No. 2.

TAKING IT UP A NOTCH
Although the Spartans duplicated their season from last year with a 12-12 mark, second-year head coach Eriica Perkins has taken the women's tennis program to another level in 2008. After one win over a ranked opponent in her first season, Perkins led the Spartans to wins over three-top 75 opponents, including a No. 59 ranking of their own, their highest spot in more than 10 seasons. Perkins also helped senior Christine Bader to the first national singles ranking of her career, as she became just the third Spartan in MSU women's tennis history to be ranked in singles.

DETERMING DOUBLES
Michigan State is 12-2 when winning the doubles point, compared to 0-10 when losing the doubles flights.

COVERAGE
Coverage of the 2008 Big Ten Women's Championships can be found live at purduesports.com. Click here to find live scoring for all matches. The Big Ten Network will broadcast the Women's Big Ten Championships on Sunday, May 4 at 4 p.m. ET.