Feb. 12, 2009
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Assistant Coach Mariusz Adamski | Manon Noe
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 67 Michigan State women's tennis team will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., where it will take on the Indiana State Sycamores at 12 p.m., on Sunday, Feb. 15. The Spartans defeated the Sycamores, 5-2, last season in East Lansing. Michigan State is looking to pick up its first road win on the season.
Last Time Out
Last weekend, the Spartans played host to both Toledo and Detroit on Friday, Feb. 6. In the afternoon match against the Toldeo, the green and white defeated the rockets, 6-1. The Spartans came out strong, winning the doubles point, and continued that success winning five out of six singles matches afterwards. In the nightcap against Detroit, MSU once again defeated its opponent, 6-1. Like in the afternoon, the Spartans picked up the important doubles point along with five singles matches to clinch the weekend sweep.
Scouting the Spartans
Michigan State has opened the spring portion of the schedule with a 3-3 record. The Spartans picked up their first victory of the season, a 7-0 win over against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 23. MSU then followed up with two more victories on Feb. 6, one against Toledo, 6-1, and another against Detroit, 6-1. All three victories have came at home in East Lansing. The Spartans three defeats on the season have all come against ITA-ranked opponents - No. 10 USC, No. 40 Louisville and No. 60 Saint Mary's College.
Roadwarriors
The Spartans begin the spring season away from home for five out of their first eight matches. They will travel to Louisville, Ky., Los Angeles, Calif., Terre Haute, Ind., and Ann Arbor Mich., nearly 6,000 miles, before they return to East Lansing for a double-header with Bowling Green and Cleveland State on Feb. 21.
Scouting the Sycamores
Indiana State boasts a 1-2 record on the season with its loan win, a 4-3 decision, coming against Tennessee-Chattanooga this past weekend. The Sycamores are led by head coach Malik Tabet, who enters his fifth-year at the reigns of the program. Indiana State returns two players from the 2007-08 campaign, which resulted in a Missouri Valley Conference title. Looking to lead the Sycamores at the No. 1 singles position is Sarah Meghoufel. Meghoufel boasts a 2-1 singles ledger on the year during the dual season.
One for the Books
First-year head coach Simone Jardim picked up the first win of her career as a head coach against Eastern Michigan University on Jan. 31. The win also marked the first win of her career as a coach at Michigan State.
Diaper Dandies
Freshman Dana Guentert (Lilburn, Ga.) is now riding a six-match singles win-streak, with an overall record of 11-4 in singles on the season, and 3-0 in dual play. Guentert extended that streak by picking up two victories last weekend over Toledo's Melissa Reynolds, 6-1, 6-1, and one over Detroit's Aneta Maricevic, 7-5, 6-3. Freshman Elena Ivanova (Moscow, Russia) started the spring season for the Spartans with a perfect 2-0 singles record. Ivanova now boasts a 10-7 singles mark, seeing most of her action at No. 3 singles. Her latest victory came over Svetlana Flankova of Detroit, 6-3, 6-2, last weekend.
In the Classroom
For the third consecutive year, the women's tennis team was named an ITA All-Academic Team. For a team to eligible, it must have a cumulative team grade-point-average over 3.20. Achieving at least a 3.5 grade-point-average were Stephanie Kebler (Okemos, Mich.), Christine Milliken (Traverse City, Mich.), Ana Milosavljevic (Johannesburg, South Africa) and Manon Noe (Liancort, France), earning all four ITA All-American honors for the first time in their career.
Next Up
The Spartans will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 18 as they will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., where they will take on the Michigan Wolverines at 4 p.m. (ET).
