EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State women’s tennis opened its home slate bright and early Friday, kicking off the Michigan State Classic Presented by Auto-Owners Insurance at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.
Action got under way Friday morning at 10 a.m. with a round of singles matches. MSU, Northwestern and Xavier were all competitors, each sending four players to enter the draw.
Freshman Amara Brahmbhatt, junior Matilde Morais, junior Issey Purser and redshirt-sophomore Natalie Stasny were all contenders in the first round of 20.
Purser made quick work in her match finishing first on the day, dominating Xavier’s Elizabeth Pendergast, 6-3, 6-4.
Brahmbhatt made her Spartan debut, putting up a hard-fought battle against Northwestern’s Kiley Rabiohns. Brahmbhatt ended up dropping the match, 6-2, 6-4. Natalie Stasny also put up a fight against her Northwestern opponent, Katya Shepherd, losing the match 6-1, 6-2.
Morais was the last to complete her match against yet another Northwestern foe, Erica Jessel. Morais was able to come back from losing her first set, 4-6, winning in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-1) and forcing a third set. In the final set, it was constant back-and-forth between the two, with Jessel ultimately winning in the final set, defeating Morais, 3-6.
Doubles matches began in the afternoon with tandems Morais/Purser and Brahmbhatt/Stasny taking the courts. The Morais/Purser duo faced off against Notre Dame’s Hanford/Molnar, while Brahmbhatt/Stasny took on Northwestern’s Riester/Shepherd.
Brahmbhatt/Stasny faced off against Riester/Shepherd, and completed their match first, defeating the competition, 6-3.
The Morais/Purser pair had a back-and-forth battle versus Hanford/Molnar. The match went into an extended tiebreaker, with both teams earning consecutive points. The match ended in a neck-to-neck competition, with the ND duo prevailing over MSU’s pair, 7-6 (9-7).
The Green & White is back in action Saturday, with singles matches beginning at 10 a.m. Fans can follow the Tournament Central for results, updated schedule links and to watch live.
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