EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State women’s tennis could not overcome early deficits, eventually falling to No. 17 Wisconsin on Sunday at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center, 5-0. With the loss, MSU slides to 8-8 (1-4 Big Ten) while the Badgers move to 14-4 (5-2 Big Ten).
“We weren’t probably expected to beat this team, but I still think we have the ability,” said head coach Kim Bruno. “We can do some damage to good programs like Wisconsin. We just have to keep moving forward.”
The Spartans fought in a highly contested doubles portion, pushing the doubles point to a decisive third match at No. 2 doubles. The Badgers took an early advantage at No. 1 doubles as MSU’s pairing of Ayshe Can and Liisa Vehvilainen could not complete the comeback, falling to Xinyu Cai and Alina Mukhortova 6-4. MSU would tie things up just moments later as Nicole Conard and Issey Purser claimed six-straight games en route to a 7-5 win at the No. 3 slot for their third-straight doubles win.
In a thrilling match at No. 2 doubles, Spartans Marley Lambert and Dagmar Zdrubecka fell to Wisconsin’s No. 65 pairing of Maria Sholokhova and Ava Markham 6-7 (2) as the Badgers took the opening point.
MSU would start the singles portion at a disadvantage as Can was unable to go in the second half of the dual, forcing the Spartans to shuffle the lineup. With the new lineup, Wisconsin took advantage by jumping out to one-set leads on all six courts.
“It’s hard when your No. 2 girl goes out, but it’s just part of the game,” said Bruno. “People have to be ready, and I thought the girls did the best they could with that…
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