No. 67 Michigan State Plays Host To Cornell And Green Bay On Saturday

Feb. 21, 2008

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MSU Head Coach Gene Orlando

COMING UP
Michigan State plays its last two matches before entering Big Ten play, as it plays host to Cornell at 12 p.m. and Green Bay at 5 p.m. at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility on Saturday, Feb. 23. MSU is undefeated in the all-time series against both teams, posting a 2-0 record against each.

LAST TIME OUT
MSU picked up its second win of the season over a ranked opponent last Wednesday, taking out No. 65 Western Michigan, 6-1. The Spartans are now 8-0 at home this season.

MSU took the early advantage, winning two of three doubles flights and taking the first point of the match. At No. 1, MSU's Nick Rinks and Adam Monich defeated Alex Birchmeier and Bryan Norville, 8-4, as they stay undefeated and extend their winning streak to six matches. John Allare and Tyler Sauerbrey took out Kazuya Komada and Michael Calderone, 8-6, at No. 3 doubles.

In singles action, Monich was the first on the board for the Spartans, downing Bryan Norville at No. 3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. Allare picked up a win just seconds later at No. 4, finishing off Calderone, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), giving MSU a 3-1 lead. Rinks soon sealed the win for the Spartans at No. 1, after fighting his way back from a first set loss. Western Michigan's Kevin Haywood pulled out the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-4), but Rinks dominated from that point on, rolling through Haywood, 6-1, 6-3, in the second and third frames.

SCOUTING CORNELL
Cornell sits with a record of 2-1, but are coming of a 7-0 loss to No. 39 Penn State. Saturday will mark Cornell's first road test of the season. Freshman Jon Jaklitsch has the most wins in singles, going 3-0 in dual-match play.

A LOOK AT GREEN BAY
Green Bay is riding a winning streak of three matches coming in to face the Spartans on Saturday, and is coming off a big 7-0 win over St. Francis (Pa.). Sophomore Matt Clegg is 4-4 in dual-match play, and has won three straight contests.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP
The Spartans are now 9-3 on the season, and are ranked 67th in the latest national polls. Seniors Nick Rinks (10-1) and Adam Monich (11-1) have only one loss each in singles dual-match play. The doubles duo of Rinks and Monich is 6-0 in dual-match play, and is currently ranked 21st in the nation.

SINGLES SENSATIONS
The Spartans have a combined record of 32-4 at the No. 1, 3 and 4 positions in dual-match play, going 11-1 at No. 1, 10-2 at No. 3, and 11-1 at No. 4. Nick Rinks has played all of his matches at No. 1, going 10-1 so far. Junior John Allare holds a 6-2 record at No. 3, while Adam Monich gone 2-0 at flight 3. Monich has posted a 7-1 record for the Spartans at No. 4, and recorded his first-career victory at No. 1 singles over Gabriel Garcia of IUPUI on Feb. 2.

DANGEROUS DOUBLES
MSU has a combined doubles record of 25-11 in dual-match play in 2008. In addition to Rinks and Monich's undefeated mark at No. 1, John Allare has won three out of his last four doubles matches with John Stratton, and teamed up with Tyler Sauerbrey at No. 3 in their win over Western Michigan.

HOME SWEET HOME
On Saturday the Spartans look to make it nine-straight home wins this season, and are currently undefeated at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. MSU has posted 10-consecutive home wins dating back to last season.

BIG TEN PLAY
Conference play begins on Feb. 29 when the Spartans travel to Champaign, Ill., to take on the Fighting Illini. Big Ten competition will prove to be tough again this season as 10 of the 11 teams in the Big Ten are currently ranked, with No. 2 Ohio State and No. 9 Illinois leading the way. Michigan State went 2-8 last season in conference matches.