Michigan State University
UNLV
Spartans Fall to UNLV, 4-3
3/8/2019 8:06:00 PM | Women's Tennis
LAS VEGAS - The Michigan State women's tennis team fell in a hard-fought battle with UNLV, 4-3, on Friday afternoon at the Fertitta Tennis Complex. The team is now 9-5 on the season.
"Tough loss for us our Spartan women today," MSU head coach Kim Bruno said. "The Rebels took advantage of our low energy and attitudes and came away with the win today. Even if we don't play our best tennis we need to bring our best attitudes and be the best teammates we can possibly be. We will take that knowledge away from this loss and respond on Sunday; I have no doubt about it."
UNLV started off the match by securing the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. This was only the fourth time all season that the Spartans had not led after doubles play.
Senior Emily Metcalf and freshman Maja Pietrowicz fell to the No. 49-ranked duo of Aiwen Zhu and En-Pei Huang, 6-2, at No. 1 doubles, to put the Rebels in the running for the doubles point.
Senior Davina Nguyen and freshman Lauren Lemonds evened the race for the doubles point with a 6-0 shutout of Izumi Asano and Connie Li on court three.
The doubles point was clinched on court two as junior Samantha Memije and freshman Nicole Stephens fell to Samantha Li and Alex Kalachova, 6-3.
With UNLV taking a 1-0 lead going into singles play, the Spartans looked to bounce back.
Nguyen kicked things off for the Spartans in singles with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Li at No. 4 singles, to tie the match at 1-1.
The Rebels answered back with a win on court two as Lemonds fell to Asano, 6-1, 6-2.
Metcalf secured her second-straight singles win with a straight-set 6-2, 6-0 victory over Li at No. 5 singles, to tie the match once again.
UNLV won two-straight matches on courts three and six to clinch the match. Pietrowicz dropped a 6-2, 6-3 decision to Huang at No. 3 singles. Stephens battled to a third set with Alex Kalachova, but fell 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.
The Spartans ended the match on a positive note as Memije defeated her first ranked opponent of the season, with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 91 Zhu at No. 1 singles. Memije improves to 8-1 in singles matches this season and an undefeated 4-0 at first singles.
The Spartans will close out their spring break trip with a match against San Diego on Sunday, March 10, at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
4,2,5,3,6,1
Players Mentioned
