Jan. 24, 2008

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Head Coach Gene Orlando

COMING UP
The Michigan State men's tennis team competes in its first road matches of the spring season, as they travel to No. 51 Middle Tennessee State on Friday, Jan. 25, then prepare for a matchup with No. 33 Vanderbilt on Sunday, Jan. 27. The Spartans and Middle Tennessee State have played each other once in school history, with the only meeting coming in 1979, a Spartan loss. Michigan State and Vanderbilt have met five times since 1960, with Vanderbilt holding a 3-2 edge over MSU.

LAST WEEKEND
MSU came out strong in both matches last weekend as they took down DePaul 4-1, then ousted Cleveland State, 7-0. Senior Nick Rinks played in four matches on Saturday, going 4-0, including two singles matches at No. 1 and two doubles matches at No. 1.

SO FAR
The Spartans have had a good start to the 2008 season, posting a record of 4-0. Nick Rinks leads the team with a 4-0 record at No. 1 singles, while Adam Monich has a 3-0 record, with two wins at No. 4 and a win a No. 3. Rinks also leads the team in doubles play as he has posted a 3-0 record at No. 1, going 2-0 with teammate John Allare, and 1-0 with Adam Monich.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE SCOUTING REPORT
The Blue Raiders will compete in their first match of the spring season, as they play host to the Spartans. Middle Tennessee State was statistically led last season by then-freshman Marc Rocafort, who recorded a 28-12 mark at singles for the Blue Raiders. Rocafort and Morgan Richard owned the best doubles record of the this year's returning players, finishing at 16-12.

SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
Sunday will mark the first spring competition for the Commodores. Vanderbilt finished with a record of 10-12 last season, going 4-8 in SEC play. Then-freshman Paul Vijay had the most wins in singles play for the Commodores in 2006-07, going 13-2 at No. 4 singles.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Senior Nick Rinks was honored this week with his second career Big Ten Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week award, after his performances against DePaul and Cleveland State. Rinks is off to a strong start in 2008, as he has yet to be taken into a third set.

UP NEXT
The Spartans play their third straight match against a ranked opponent, as they travel to South Bend, Ind. on Wednesday, Jan. 30 for a 3:30 p.m. matchup with No. 12 Notre Dame.