Spartans fall to No. 60 Iowa

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State women’s tennis fought hard in its second conference dual of the season, ultimately falling to No. 60 Iowa on Friday, March 17, 4-1, at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex. The loss drops MSU to 7-6 (0-2 B1G) on the season while Iowa moves to 6-6 (1-1 B1G). 
 
The Spartans came out swinging in the doubles portion of the contest, taking the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. The tandem of Marley Lambert and Dagmar Zdrubecka drew first blood taking down Iowa’s pairing of Dianne Hayashida and Vipasha Mehra. After MSU’s top pairing of Liisa Vehvilainen and Ayshe Can were defeated, the Spartans clinched the doubles point as Issey Purser and Nicole Conard defeated the Hawkeye’s Barbora Pokorna and Pia Kranholdt 7-5 to give the Spartans an early 1-0 lead. 
 
MSU would fight hard in singles but the Hawkeye’s proved to be too much, claiming four-straight wins in singles to clinch the match. Iowa fired off two quick victories at the No. 2 and No. 5 positions as Iowa’s Samantha Mannix and Pokorna defeated MSU’s Can and Purser, respectively, in straight sets.  
 
Iowa would continue their dominance in singles, ultimately clinching the match with another pair of straight set wins at the No. 1 and No. 6 positions. MSU’s Vehvilainen fell to Iowa’s Marisa Schmidt in 6-3, 6-4, while after forcing a first set tiebreak, Iowa’s Pia Kranholdt would hang on to defeat Spartan Charlotte Gisclon, 7-6 (0), 6-3, to clinch the match for the Hawkeyes, 4-1. Spartan freshmen Juliette Nask and Marley Lambert had their matches go unfinished after Iowa clinched the match. 
 
UP NEXT
 
Michigan State continues conference play, returning to the MSU Indoor Tennis Center to take on No. 63 Nebraska on Sunday, March 19. First serve is slated for 10 a.m. 
 
RESULTS
DOUBLES
1. Marisa Schmidt/Samantha Mannix (UI) def. Liisa Vehvilainen/Ayshe Can (MSU) 6-3
2. Marley Lambert/Dagmar Zdrubecka (MSU) def. Daianne Hayashida/Vipasha Mehra (UI) 6-2 
3. Issey Purser/Nicole Conard (MSU) def. Barbora Pokorna/Pia Kranholdt (UI) 7-5 
 
SINGLES
1. Marisa Schmidt (UI) def. Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Samantha Mannix (UI) def. Ayshe Can (MSU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Daianne Hayashida (UI) vs. Marley Lambert (MSU) 6-2, 1-6, 5-5, unfinished 4. Vipasha Mehra (UI) vs. Juliette Nask (MSU) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0,…