ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Michigan State women’s tennis put forth a strong showing at the 2022 ITA Midwest Regional Championships, with all four singles athletes reaching the tournament’s main draw and the doubles tandem of Ayshe Can and Liisa Vehvilainen battling to the Round of 16. Tournament action at the Varsity Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Michigan concluded Tuesday afternoon.
Michigan State entered the competition with one automatic qualifier and three qualifying singles student-athletes, as well as two doubles pairings in the main draw of the tournament. Can represented MSU as a main-draw qualifier, while Vehvilainen, Marley Lambert and Issey Purser each battled their way through the qualifying singles draw.
Can and Vehvilainen were a force to be reckoned with in the doubles competition, defeating a pair of challengers en route to their Round of 16 finish. The Spartan duo opened the tournament with a powerful 8-2 showing over Bowling Green’s Hannah Neuman and Maru Poppe. In the following round, MSU faced off against Northwestern’s one-two punch of Clarissa Hand and Maria Shusharina, working their way through a challenging back and forth affair to publish the 8-7(5) victory.
To reach the main singles competition, Vehvilainen opened the tournament with a domineering 6-3, 6-0 effort over Western Michigan’s Karin Hamilton. She followed that performance up with a gritty three-setter over Bailey Sheinen of Michigan, turning in a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 scorecard. Elsewhere in qualifying singles, Lambert defeated Bethany Yauch of Cleveland State by a 6-3, 6-4 margin before dispatching with Western Michigan’s Maya Perkucin in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. Finally, Purser dominated her challengers in singles qualifying, putting Hannah Smith of DePaul away in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, before running past Isabella Righi of Northern Illinois in a 6-1, 6-3 affair.
UP NEXT
Michigan State women’s tennis returns to work at the Alabama Classic, hosted by the University of Alabama. Action from the Alabama Tennis Stadium is set to begin on Friday, Oct. 28, and conclude on Saturday, Oct. 29.
TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
ITA MIDWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Varsity Tennis Center – Ann Arbor, Mich.
DOUBLES COMPETITION
Mariona Perez / Shalini Tallmraju (TOL)…
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