Feb. 8, 2007

Weekly Notes Against Miami and Ball State
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EAST LANSING, Mich.-In its third straight week at home, No. 72 Michigan State will host Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by Ball State on Sunday at 11 a.m. The Spartans would like to welcome Girl Scout Troop #729 to Saturday's match.

The Spartans improved their record to 5-0 with a 5-2 victory over Toledo last weekend. Spartan senior Jessica Baron remains undefeated in both singles (4-0) and doubles (3-0), winning at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles against Toledo. Michigan State advanced to 5-0 with its win over Toledo. The Green and White posted wins at No. 1 doubles and No. 3 doubles to capture the doubles point, and then went on to post a 3-2 singles mark for the 5-2 victory.

National Spotlight
The Michigan State women's tennis team has fought its way into the ITA/FILA Top 75 with a 5-0 start to the season. The Spartans moved up to No. 72 in the Feb. 6 rankings after earning the No. 73 spot on Jan. 30; the rankings marked the first time an MSU team has been in the polls since April 12, 2005. The 2005 Spartan team was ranked as high as No. 62. Michigan State will look to remain in the rankings as it continues to face a challenging 2007 schedule, going against five schools that were ranked in the ITA/FILA preseason poll.

The Miami Redhawks
Miami enters this weekend's contest with a 2-3 record, following a 5-2 victory over Butler. Under the direction of 13-year head coach Ray Reppert, the Redhawks are led at No. 1 singles by senior Katrina Lomidze, who has struggled early in the season with a 1-4 mark coming into the match. Despite a tough string of singles matches, Lomidez has fared slightly better in doubles, going 2-3 at No. 1. Miami will travel to face Ohio State on Sunday.

The Ball State Cardinals
Ball State is 2-2, but will face Cincinnati on Feb. 9 before coming to East Lansing to face the Spartans. Kathy Bull is in her 19th season at the helm of the Cardinal program, and has led Ball State to 13 seasons of .500 or better. Three juniors lead the young Cardinal roster this season, and three freshmen have consistently played in the lineup. The team is 11-12 in singles following its first four matches, led by freshman Christine Stromberg who is 4-0 at No. 6. Ball State is 6-6 in doubles, picking up three doubles matches against both DePaul and IPFW.

The Last Time
Michigan State last faced Miami (Ohio) and Ball State during the 2006 season, playing both schools in the same weekend. The Spartans swept the pair, beginning with a 5-2 win over Miami and ending with a 6-1 defeat of the Ball State Cardinals.

An Unblemished Record
Senior Jessica Baron remains undefeated in both singles (4-0) and doubles (3-0) following the first five matches, competing at No. 6 doubles and No. 3 singles. Sarah Andrews, Christine Bader, Stephanie Kebler and Christine Milliken join Baron as undefeated in doubles play. As a team, Michigan State is 13-1 in doubles, not dropping the doubles point through its first five matches. The Spartans suffered their first loss in doubles play last weekend against Toledo at No. 2. Despite the loss, the Spartans remain strong in doubles play, posting a 107-51 games margin against all opponents.

Also worth mentioning, Michigan State has yet to drop a match at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, or at No. 1 or No. 3 doubles.

Home Sweet Home
The Spartans began a seven-match homestand last weekend, which keeps them in East Lansing for the entire month of February. MSU holds the home-court advantage against Toledo (Feb. 3), Miami (OH) (Feb 10), Ball State (Feb. 11), East Tennessee State (Feb. 18), and Bowling Green (Feb. 24). Michigan State will not hit the road again until March 3, when the Spartans travel to Dayton, Ohio to face the Flyers at 3 p.m.

Spartans Schedule, No Easy Task
Michigan State will face a tough test in 2007, as the Spartans face five opponents who were ranked in the ITA/FILA Top 75 preseason rankings. Also noteworthy, four schools are Big Ten opponents (Michigan, Iowa, Purdue, Indiana), which shows the depth of the conference this season. The challenge for Michigan State will be to compete hard in order to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships. The Spartans have already faced Louisville, the fifth team that was ranked in the preseason; Michigan State came away with its first victory over a ranked team, 5-2, against the Cardinals.

In addition to the ranked teams, Michigan State will face competitors who were ranked individually in both singles and doubles in the preseason. Seven of the Spartans competitors are ranked in singles, while MSU is slated to face two ranked doubles teams.