Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Michigan St
Men's Tennis Cruises Past Michigan State, 5-2
2/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 1, 2004
EAST LANSING, MI.-- The Wake Forest men's tennis team evened its record at 1-1 by defeating Michigan State by a score of 5-2 Sunday afternoon in East Lansing. The Spartans entered Sunday's match with a record of 5-0 and ranked 58th, but the 33rd ranked Demon Deacons were too much to handle as they rebounded from Saturday's loss at the University of Michigan.
The doubles point was up for grabs in the third match as the Deacs and Spartans split the first two matches of the day. Michigan State's Chris Mitchell and Andrew Formanczyk had no problems handling Wake Forest's Andrew Hamar and Todd Paul at No. 2, 8-2, but Wake's No. 1 tandem of Derrick Spice and Brett Ross took an 8-5 win over Eric Simonton and Cameron Marshall.
In the deciding No. 3 match, MSU's Anthony Stefani and Mike Brown took a commanding 6-2 lead over Wake's Andrew Simpson and Joe Bates, but the Deacs battled back for a dramatic 9-8(1) victory, earning the doubles point for Wake Forest.
In singles play, the Demon Deacons wasted no time securing the day's victory by winning the first three matches. Hamar knocked off Marshall, 6-1, 6-4 in the No. 2 slot, Ross took a 6-1, 6-3 win over Simonton at No. 4, and Paul capped off the winning rally with a 7-6(2), 6-3 triumph over Mitchell in the No. 3 spot.
Senior David Loewenthal also won his first match of the year for the Deacs in the No. 5 slot with a 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-4) victory in a super-tiebreaker against the Spartans' Joseph McWilliams. Wake Forest's Spice and Liron Strauss each suffered losses in their singles matches. Spice dropped a tough, 6-4, 7-5 decision to Formanczyk while Strauss battled for three sets but finished on the wrong end of a 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 match.
The Demon Deacons will be in action again next Saturday when they travel to Williamsburg, VA to take on William & Mary at 5 pm. The Deacs will then head to Norfolk for a matchup against Old Dominion on Sunday.
Sunday's Results
Doubles
No. 1 Brett Ross/Derrick Spice (WFU) def. Cameron Marshall/Eric Simonton (MSU) 8-5
No. 2 Andrew Formanczyk/Chris Mitchell (MSU) def. Andrew Hamar/Todd Paul (WFU) 8-2
No. 3 Joe Bates/Andrew Simpson (WFU) def. Mike Brown/Anthony Stefani (MSU) 9-8(1)
Singles
No. 1 #100 Andrew Formanczyk (MSU) def. Derrick Spice (WFU) 6-4, 7-5
No. 2 #77 Andrew Hamar (WFU) def. Cameron Marshall (MSU) 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 Todd Paul (WFU) def. Chris Mitchell (MSU) 7-6(2), 6-3
No. 4 Brett Ross (WFU) def. Eric Simonton (MSU) 6-1, 6-3
No. 5 David Loewenthal (WFU) def. Joseph McWilliams (MSU) 5-7, 7-5, 1-0(10-4)
No. 6 Michael Flowers (MSU) def. Liron Strauss (WFU) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3
No. 33 Wake Forest defeats No. 58 Michigan State, 5-2
Players Mentioned
