Michigan State University
Illinois
Women's Tennis Fall to Illinois, 4-1
4/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
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EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's tennis team fell to Illinois, 4-1, on Friday afternoon at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. MSU drops to 17-6 overall and 7-3 in Big Ten play, while Illinois improves to 13-11 overall and 7-3 in conference play.
"It was the first time all season that I don't think we played our big points well and did things our way," said head coach Kim Bruno. "It is one match and it is not defining our season. We have had an outstanding season thus far and we are going to keep our heads up and look forward to Northwestern and for the Big Ten Championship."
The Spartans honored seniors Erin Faulkner and Athena Trouillot prior to the match for their hard work and dedication over the past four years.
"I'm definitely going to miss looking down and seeing Erin getting fired up and the character of both of these girls," said Bruno. "AT is calm, cool and collective and gets through to win matches. I've only been around them for one year, but I am going to miss being around them and what they bring to the team."
Illinois earned the doubles point after all three matches were close contests. The Fighting Illini then used that momentum heading into singles play, where they won four of the six first sets. Emily Metcalf was one of those to fall in the first set, but the sophomore stormed back and won her seventh straight match and improved to 7-1 in Big Ten play and 17-3 on the season.
MSU returns to action on Sunday, April 23 at Northwestern where it closes out the regular season vs. the Wildcats at 2 p.m. ET.
