Men's Tennis

April 15, 2009

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John Allare

Scott Rasmussen

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's tennis team will host No. 53 Indiana on Saturday, April 18 and then No. 11 Illinois on Sunday, April 19 at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. Play will begin at noon both days.

Spartan Recap
Michigan State fell, 7-0, to No. 47 Michigan on Wednesday and dropped a match to Purdue, 5-2, on April 11. The Spartans are12-11 on the season and 0-8 in the Big Ten.

Against Michigan, the doubles pairing of senior John Allare (Masonville, Ohio) and junior Jason Norville (Farmington Hills, Mich.) defeated the No. 51 tandem of Jason Jung and George Navaz, 8-6, at the No. 1 position.

Freshman Ronnie Hulewicz (Tequesta, Fla.) and senior Alex Forger (Okemos, Mich.) picked up the two points for the Spartans against Purdue. Hulewicz defeated Roberto Cabrini in dominating fashion, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 5 singles while Forger posted a win over Branko Kuzmanovic, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 2 position.

In the Classroom
MSU Student-Athlete Support Services hosted the 12th-annual Spartan Academic Excellence Gala Tuesday evening. The Michigan State men's and women's tennis teams were honored with the Athletic Director's Cup, having compiled the best team GPA among the 25 MSU varsity sports. The men's team has a cumulative GPA of 3.27. Within each sport, a Top Scholar-Athlete award was given with Jason Norville being the recipient for the men's tennis team.

A Solid Start
Freshmen Austin Brooks (Houston, Texas) and Hulewicz had a solid beginning to their careers at Michigan State and have proven themselves as assets to the Green and White.

Brooks has mainly played at No. 3 and No. 4 singles this season and currently stands at 18-17 overall and 8-12 in dual play. He is 2-0 at the No. 2 position, 3-2 at No. 3 and 3-10 at No. 4. His last singles win came against Illinois State, where he won 7-6 (8-4), 6-4. His last doubles win came with sophomore John Stratton (Monroeville, N.J.) over Minnesota doubles opponents of Dino Bilankov and Tobias Wernet, 8-7.

Hulewicz claims the team-best overall and dual record this season. He has tallied an impressive 25-11 overall singles record, playing at mainly No. 5 singles, and 18-4 in dual play. He is the only Spartan to post a winning record against Big Ten opponents, going 5-3 so far this season. The four losses came against Iowa, Cleveland State, Ohio State and Michigan. Before falling to Iowa, Hulewicz was riding an 11-match win streak and has currently won seven of his last ten matches. During Spring break, the team traveled to California for three matches where Hulewicz was the only Spartan to pick up a singles win in all three matches. His most recent win came against Purdue's Roberto Cabrini, where he won in dominating fashion, 6-1, 6-1, and was one of just two Spartans to pick up a point. He is 2-1 at No. 3 doubles, partnering with juniors Jason Norville (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Brendan Kinkopf (Cleveland, Ohio) and Stratton throughout the season.

Leaving an Impression
Allare, Forger and classmate Scott Rasmussen (Moraga, Calif.) have all made substantial impacts on the team this season and leave MSU with big shoes to fill.

Allare, ranked 22nd regionally, holds an overall record of 25-15, and 10-12 in dual play. He has posted a 5-7 record at No. 1 and 5-5 at No. 2. His most recent win came against Iowa's Christian Bierich where he defeated him, 6-3, 6-1. Against Michigan, the doubles pairing of Allare and Norville defeated the No. 51 tandem of Jason Jung and George Navaz, 8-6, at the No. 1 position. The pair has posted wins over three nationally ranked doubles teams; Michigan, Iowa and Ohio State. The duo stands at 12-8 on the season and 5-8 at the No. 1 position. Allare and Norville hold a 7-0 mark at the No. 2 doubles position as well and are 15-10 overall. They started the season with a nine-match winning streak before falling to the Santa Clara doubles team of Jay Wong and Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong.

Forger, ranked regionally at No. 27, currently holds a 9-11 dual season record, going 4-5 at the No. 2 position and 5-6 at No. 1. His most recent win came against Purdue when he defeated Branko Kuzmanovic, 6-4, 6-2, at the No.2 position and was one of just two Spartans to pick up a win against the Boilermakers. Forger and sophomore Clark Richardson (Leawood, Kansas) have teamed together to go 6-3 in doubles play; Forger has compiled a 4-4 record with Rasmussen in doubles action as well. His most recent win came with sophomore John Stratton (Monroeville, N.J.) when the pair topped Penn State's tandem Ryan Gormley and Eddie Bourchier, 8-5.

Rasmussen has a dual record of 9-13, with wins coming at the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 positions. Three of his wins came at the No. 3 position, two at the No. 2 spot and the remaining four wins at the No. 4 spot. With doubles partners, Forger and Kinkopf, he has tallied a 7-6 record; three wins have come with Kinkopf and four with Forger. His most recent doubles win came with Forger when the pair defeated its Tulsa opponents, James Seagranves and Wojciech Starakiewic, at the No. 3 position. Starakiewic

Filling the Lineup
Brendan Kinkopf (Cleveland, Ohio), Norville, Richardson and Stratton have substantially contributed to the depth of the Spartan lineup this past season.

Kinkopf is 4-0 at No. 6 singles, and 4-2 in doubles action, partnering with Hulewicz, Rasmussen and Richardson. Norville has tallied a 9-13 record in dual play, primarily at the No. 4 and No. 5 singles positions, and stands at 12-8 with Allare in doubles play. Stratton is 4-3 at the No. 6 and No. 3 singles positions and has, most recently, teamed with Forger to defeat the doubles teams of Ryan Gormley and Eddie Bourchier of Penn State, 8-5. Richardson has gone 3-0 at the No. 5 singles position, 10-7 overall and is 7-6 in doubles play with partners Forger, Hulewicz and Kinkopf.

Spartan Quickfacts
Michigan State has picked up the doubles point 12 times this season, most recently against Iowa. They are 12-11 in dual play with 11 of those wins coming at home and one on the road. Nine of the eleven teams that MSU has fallen to are all nationally ranked; No. 25 Notre Dame, No. 29 Tulsa, No. 60 California, No. 37 Minnesota, No. 26 Wisconsin, No. 58 Northwestern, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 51 Penn State and No. 47 Michigan. MSU has had only four losses at home, coming from No. 25 Notre Dame, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 51 Penn State and No. 47 Michigan. The Spartans currently stand at 0-8 in Big Ten play.

The Indiana Hoosiers
The Hoosiers are currently ranked No. 53 in the nation with sophomore Lachlan Ferguson at No. 85 in singles play. Their overall record is 12-12, and in conference play they stand at 4-4. This meeting marks the 69th meeting between the two Big Ten opponents and Indiana leads the all-time series, 48-20. When the two met in 2008, the Hoosiers defeated the Spartans, 4-3. Indiana is coached by Randy Bloemendaal and assistant coach Scott Linn.

The Fighting Illini
Illinois is ranked nationally at No. 11 and is coached by Brad Dancer and associate head coach George Husack. They currently stand at 18-6 overall this season, 5-1 in the Big Ten, falling only to No. 3 Ohio State, 6-1. Freshman Dennis Nevolo is ranked 39th nationally, sophomore Roy Kalmanovich is 42nd and senior Marc Spicijaric is 79th. Three different doubles pairing also made the national rankings; Nevolo and Ruan Roelofse are 18th, Marek Czerwinski has partnered with two teammates, Spicijaric and Billy Heiser to rank 49th and 70th, respectively. The last time the two schools met, in the 2008 season, Illinois defeated Michigan State, 6-1. This marks the 69th meeting between the two schools and Illinois leads the all-time series, 40-28.

Up Next
Michigan State travels to Ann Arbor, Mich. for the Big Ten Championships. Play begins Thursday, April 23 and continues through Sunday, April 26.

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