Spartans Begin B1G Journey

April 23, 2014

The No. 61 eighth seeded, Michigan State men’s tennis team will begin the Big Ten Tournament at the outdoor tennis courts on Thursday at 10 a.m. against ninth-seeded Nebraska.

There are a couple of reasons the Spartans should feel confident going into Thursday’s battle. MSU is 10-1 at home this season and MSU defeated Nebraska last month, 4-3.

Here are the results from the last time the Spartans and Cornhuskers matched up.

RESULTS

Doubles:

1) Lied/Mullane (MSU) def. Videtich/Zitsch (NEB) 8-6 

2) Jadun/Linders (MSU) def. Treyz/Herrmann (NEB) 8-6 

3) Boyer/Elsass (NEB) def. Zade/Davis (MSU) 8-3

Singles:

 1) Boyer (NEB) def. Lied (MSU) 6-4, 6-4 

2) Mullane (MSU) def. Herrmann (NEB) 6-4, 6-0 

3) Blackwell (NEB) def. Forman (MSU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 

4) Linders (MSU) def. Dzulynsky (NEB) 6-4, 6-3 

5) Stavropoulos (NEB) def. Davis (MSU) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0(10-3) 

6) Roy (MSU) def. Shin (NEB) 6-3, 7-5

Michigan State has won three of their last four games and has not lost at home in a month.

Senior co-captain Drew Lied will lead the Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament after being named the conference tennis athlete of the week. Lied, who routinely plays on the top court, is 13-15 on the season in singles play and is on a two-game win streak.

The winner of MSU-Nebraska will play one-seed Ohio State, who has won nine straight Big Ten regular season titles and is currently ranked No. 2 in the country.

Troy Jefferson is the host of Match Point for Impact Sports.

Photos: Anthony Serafino/Impact Sports