West Lafayette, Ind. — Michigan State women’s tennis fought hard but could not overcome an early deficit, falling to Rutgers in the opening round of the Big Ten women’s tennis tournament, 5-1.
With the loss, MSU finishes the spring with a 9-14 record, including a 2-10 mark against Big Ten foes. With the win, Rutgers moves to 11-12 this spring and advances to play the No. 5 seed Northwestern Wildcats on Thursday, April 27.
The Spartans started the dual off strong with a blistering doubles performance from Issey Purser and Nicole Conard as the duo dispatched Rutgers’ Arina Valitova and Jackeline Lopez in quick fashion, 6-1, to take the doubles advantage. However, the Scarlet Knights would strike back at the No. 1 slot as Tara Chilton and Amira Badawi defeated MSU’s Ayshe Can and Liisa Vehvilainen, 7-5, to push the doubles point to the match at the No. 3 spot.
Rutgers would eventually take the doubles point as the pairing of Minchae Kim and Mai Nguyen defeated MSU’s Juliette Nask and Dagmar Zdrubecka, in a hard-fought tiebreak, 7-6 (4), to give the Scarlet Knights the 1-0 lead heading into singles.
The Scarlet Knights would continue to pressure the Spartans by taking a quick singles point at the No. 2 slot as Badawi defeated MSU’s Purser, 6-2, 6-0, doubling the Rutgers lead. However, the Spartans would cut the deficit in half minutes later as Vehvilainen made quick haste of Rutgers’ Lopez, 6-2, 6-0, for her tenth singles win of the spring.
Rutgers would strike back almost immediately, however, as MSU’s Can could not overcome a tight first-set loss, ultimately capitulating to Rutgers’ Chilton at the No. 2 slot, 5-7, 3-6, as the Scarlet Knights pulled to within one point of clinching the dual.
After taking first set leads at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles position, Rutgers would clinch the match with instantaneous wins as Nguyen and fellow teammate Daira Cardenas defeated MSU’s Marley Lambert and Zdrubecka with identical 6-4, 6-4 results, respectively, giving the Scarlet Knights the 5-1 win.
In a nail-biter at the No. 4 slot, MSU’s Nask was leading in the second set over Rutgers’ Valitova in a match that went unfinished after the clinch.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
1. Tara Chilton/Amira Badawi (RU) def. Ayesh Can/Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU)…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Michigan State University Athletics…