Tennis tea drops 4th straight match, 5-2
The MSU women's tennis team fell to Indiana 5-2 Saturday in Bloomington, Ind. The Spartans (8-10, 0-6 Big Ten) have dropped four consecutive matchesBut the day had a few bright spots for MSU in the setback to the Hoosiers (9-10, 1-4).
Freshman Marta Walasek won her first match as a Spartan. Walasek played doubles with junior Josie Schmude, en route to an 8-6 victory over Hoosiers Dominika Walterova and Sophie Rychlik.
Walterova also fell to MSU sophomore Kate Thomas in a singles match 3-6, 6-2, 7-6. MSU sophomore Keri Thompson nabbed her 28th win of the season, after defeating freshman Sarah Batty in three sets.
Kristofer Karol
Coach Gregory declines position at Illinois State Of the two MSU men's basketball assistant coaches venturing into the job market for a head coaching position, one could be staying put for another season.
Associate coach Brian Gregory declined the head coaching job at Illinois State on Saturday, citing wrong timing for his decision not to make the jump. Gregory was offered the position Wednesday on a visit to the Normal, Ill., school but waited until the Saturday deadline to make a decision.
Gregory expects to entertain other head coaching offers, but this season, Illinois State will not be one of them.
Meanwhile, assistant coach Mike Garland interviewed Sunday for the head coaching job with Cleveland State in New Orleans. Gregory, Garland and head coach Tom Izzo are all in New Orleans for tonight's NCAA championship game between Kansas and Syracuse.
Patrick Walters
Running backs, offense domintate scrimmage The offense made strides in the MSU football team's second scrimmage of the spring Saturday, but the defense continued to stumble.
The offense played consistently in the 85-play "controlled" scrimmage, according to head coach John L. Smith.
"We made some mental mistakes that led to gaping holes," Smith said in a statement. "We gave up too many big plays today. Again, we're looking for consistency on the defensive side of the ball."
MSU's bright spot in the scrimmage was its running game. Redshirt junior Tyrell Dortch rushed for 90 yards on 12 carries and sophomore Jaren Hayes added 36 yards and three touchdowns on 12 attempts. Dortch, who sat out the 2002 season after breaking his leg in 2001, continues to vie with Hayes for the starting spot at running back.
Despite defensive woes, senior defensive end Greg Taplin and senior Monquiz Wedlow, a rover outside linebacker, both had solid performances. Taplin had five tackles and two sacks, and Wedlow added four tackles and the scrimmage's only interception.
Pass rushing, a nearly nonexistent element of MSU's defense a year ago, continues to be tweaked, but Smith foresees a long haul.
"We've made a lot of progress in the first two weeks of spring ball," Smith said. "But we still have a lot of work to do."
Patrick Walters
'U' stuns No. 28 Indiana, claims 6 singles wins The MSU men's tennis team jolted No. 28 Indiana on Sunday in East Lansing. The Spartans (12-9 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Hoosiers (11-6, 3-3).
At the No. 1 singles, sophomore Andrew Formanczyk won 7-6(6), 6-2. He fell behind 4-1, but then won the next three games to tie the score.
The Spartans dropped two of three doubles matches, but swept its six singles events. MSU has won three of its last four matches.
MSU will need to continue its good play when it travels to Champaign, Ill., on Saturday to take on No. 1 Illinois.
Kristofer Karol
Novice teams race to 2 first-place finishes
The Spartans raced four varsity and two novice teams against Michigan and Eastern Michigan.
MSU's two novice teams each took first place, while its first varsity eight, first varsity four, second varsity eight and second varsity four each took second place in their respective races.
The second varsity four lost by less than one second to U-M, as the Wolverines edged the Spartans in the final 300 meters of the course. The second varsity eight team lost by less than four seconds to U-M.
Kristofer Karol
