EAST LANSING, Mich. – For the first time since the Michigan State campus community suffered a tragic loss of life on Monday, Feb. 13, the Spartan women’s tennis program returns to the courts for a trio of matches this weekend inside the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.
The Green & White open the weekend with a doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 24, as the Spartans challenge the Xavier Musketeers at 10 a.m. before playing the Chicago State Cougars at 2 p.m. MSU closes the weekend out at home on Sunday, Feb. 26 with an 11 a.m. match against the Illinois State Redbirds. The MSU Indoor Tennis Center will also play host to a neutral site match between Xavier and Illinois State on Saturday, Feb. 25.
#UNMATCHED APPROACH
Sophomore Liisa Vehvilainen continues to roll in both doubles and singles play, extending her overall win streak to eight after ratting off four straight victories in both disciplines. The Turku, Finland, native remains tied for the overall win lead at MSU with Nicole Conard and Juliette Nask at nine victories in singles. Vehvilainen also owns a team-leading 5-1 dual match record, followed closely by Conard who stands at 4-2. In doubles, Ayshe Can and Vehvilainen continue to pace the Spartan squad with an impressive 9-4 start to the 2022-23 campaign.
LAST MATCH OUT
The Spartans won their third straight dual match and utilized a dominant performance in the singles competition to topple the Marquette Golden Eagles by a 6-1 score on Sunday inside the MSU Indoor Tennis Center. Michigan State opened Sunday’s matinee with a solid showing in the doubles competition, as the Green & White utilized wins at the bookend positions to take the opening point of the match. The Spartans then rattled off wins on five of six singles courts to finalize the dominant 6-1 team result. MSU used a pair of straight-set victories from Vehvilainen at the top line over Julieanne Bou (6-2, 6-1), and Tia Mukherjee at the No. 6 spot to clinch the match (7-5, 7-6(3)).
RANKING UPDATE
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association released their first computerized rankings of the 2023 dual match season on Tuesday, February 21. The Spartans made their season debut in the rankings at the No. 74 position nationally in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings sponsored by…
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