Tuesday, 03/13/2012

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Michigan State men's tennis team picked up their third victory in a row on Thursday evening, topping Marquette on the road, 4-3. The matchup closes out the Spartans non-conference action and helps the team improve to 11-6 thus far this season.

The Spartans struggled early on in doubles, dropping the first two matches on courts one and two. Marquette's Jose Crowley and Dan Mamalat proved to be too much for the Spartan pair of Drew Lied and Aaron Pfister who fell hard in an 8-1 match. Austin Brooks and Harry Jadun fell as well in the doubles two spot to Logon Collins and Jon Schwerin, 8-6.

But the duo of Denis Bogatov and Gijs Linders kept the Green and White's hopes alive, pulling off a 8-4 victory over Cameron Tehrani and James Stark.

Marquette picked up the doubles point with the pair of victories, but MSU used their last contest to propel momentum into singles action. Linders kept things rolling for the team on court six, picking up an easy 6-2, 6-2 win over Tehrani and evening things up for the team on the scoreboard at one apiece.

But the Golden Eagles' Mamalat answered back with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Bogatov on court two.

Pfister continued to impress in the No. 1 singles spot, with a hard-fought three-set victory over Crowley. The sophomore improves his individual record to 9-2 with the 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 win.

Marquette gave one last effort in the single's matchups on court four when Teofanovic narrowly defeated Brooks in a two-set tiebreaker 7-6, 7-6 score.

However, MSU picked up the last two singles points to pull off the 4-3 victory. On court five Lied bounced back from his doubles loss and despite a falter in the second set was able to pull out the three-set win over Schwerin with a score of 7-6, 4-6, 6-3.

Hulewicz closed out action in the No. 3 spot. After falling in the first set, 3-6, the senior pushed through the final two sets with a close 6-4, 7-5 effort.

The Spartans will now begin Big Ten Conference action in Ann Arbor next Saturday, March 17th, taking on No. 24 Michigan. Action is slated to begin at noon at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Doubles
1. Jose Crowley/Dan Mamalat (MU) def. Drew Lied/Aaron Pfister (MSU), 8-1
2. Logon Collins/Jon Schwerin (MU) def. Austin Brooks/Harry Jadun (MSU), 8-6
3. Denis Bogatov/Gijs Linders (MSU) def. Cameron Tehrani/James Stark (MU), 8-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles
1. Aaron Pfister (MSU) def. Jose Crowley (MU), 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
2. Dan Mamalat (MU) def. Denis Bogatov 6-3, 6-4
3. Ronnie Hulewicz (MSU) def. Logon Collins (MU), 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
4. Vukasin Teofanovic (MU) def. Austin Brooks (MSU), 7-6, 7-6
5. Drew Lied (MSU) def. Jon Schwerin (MU) 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
6. Gijs Linders (MSU) def. Cameron Tehrani (MU), 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 1, 4, 5, 3