Spartans Begin Big Ten Tournament Play Against Purdue

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 8-seeded Michigan State Spartans open play at the 2019 Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament on Thursday, April 25 against No. 9 Purdue, with the match set to begin at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET. The tournament takes place at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center in Lincoln, Nebraska and will be hosted by the University of Nebraska.

"Purdue is definitely a talented team and a team that can win some great matches and can also lose some tough matches," MSU head coach Kim Bruno said. "We just have to be ready; We have to think about ourselves and our preparation. We're looking forward to something a little different and we're ready to go; That's why we head out there."

Michigan State received the eighth seed in the Big Ten Tournament, completing the regular season with a record of 15-10 overall and a 6-5 mark in conference play. Purdue comes into the match as the No. 9-seed, as they are 10-12 overall and 5-6 in Big Ten play. Both teams completed the regular season with a three-match winning streak in conference play.

In the past three seasons under head coach Kim Bruno, the Spartans have achieved their third-straight season with a winning Big Ten record. This marks the first time in Spartan women's tennis program history in which the team has had three-straight winning Big Ten seasons.

This will be the first meeting between the Spartans and the Boilermakers since the 2017 season, with Purdue leading the all-time series 17-4.

Last year in the Big Ten Tournament, the Spartans defeated Indiana, 4-2, in the first round of play, before falling to Michigan, 4-0, in the Quarterfinals.

Two Spartans have winning conference singles records, including freshmen Maja Pietrowicz and Nicole Stephens who are 6-4 and 5-4, respectively.

Senior Emily Metcalf and Pietrowicz have led the doubles lineup all season, as they paired for a 14-7 record at No. 1 doubles.

In the regular season finale at Rutgers, senior Davina Nguyen became the winningest doubles player in Spartan women's tennis history with 68 career doubles wins.

The winner of the match will advance to the quarterfinals against No. 1-seed Michigan on Friday, April 26 at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET.

For the duration of the tournament, fans are able to follow along with live stats (indoor and outdoor courts) and live video (indoor courts only).

For more information on the 2019 Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament, visit the Big Ten Tournament Central page.