Michigan State University
Northwestern University
MSU Women’s Tennis Upsets No. 25 Northwestern on the Road, 4-3
4/7/2019 4:34:00 PM | Women's Tennis
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Michigan State women's tennis team defeated No. 25 Northwestern, 4-3, in a hard-fought battle on Sunday afternoon at the Combe Tennis Center. This historic victory was the Spartans second-ever win over Northwestern in program history and the first win against the Wildcats in nearly 40 years.
This was the Spartans second upset victory against a Top 25 conference opponent in the past two seasons. Michigan State defeated No. 21-ranked Nebraska, 4-2, in Lincoln, Nebraska, on March 16, 2018.
"This was a team performance," MSU head coach Kim Bruno said. "What we've been talking about all season long is if we can control ourselves and compete hard, we're a great team. The girls proved that today, and it just happened to be our day that we got it done. This will go down in history. The girls should feel good about that and gain some confidence. This could be a new standard, and I couldn't be more proud of our team performance from everyone on board."
The team improves to 13-10 on the season and 4-5 in Big Ten matches.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead after securing the doubles point to open the match. Senior Davina Nguyen and freshman Lauren Lemonds fell to Rheeya Doshi and Inci Ogut, 6-3, at No. 3 doubles.
Junior Samantha Memije and freshman Nicole Stephens evened the race for the doubles point with a 7-5 victory over Julie Byrne and Hannah McColgan on court two.
The doubles point was clinched at No. 1 doubles, with senior Emily Metcalf and freshman Maja Pietrowicz dropping a 7-5 decision to the No. 40-ranked doubles pair in the country, Clarissa Hand and Lee Or.
In singles, the Spartans looked to bounce back and did so with Nguyen tying the match at 1-1 with a straight-set victory over Caroline Pozo, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 3 singles. The Wildcats responded with two straight-set wins as Stephens fell to Doshi, 6-4, 6-4, on court six and Pietrowicz dropped a 7-5, 6-4 decision at No. 4 singles to Or.
With Northwestern looking to clinch the match, Michigan State fought to stay alive and won three-straight singles matches to complete the upset victory over the 25th ranked Wildcats.
At No. 1 singles, Memije got her second victory of the match with a three-set win over Byrne, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
It all came down to Metcalf on court six and Lemonds on court two, with the match on the line.
"Last matches on they (Metcalf and Lemonds) were able to fight through those nerves for their teammates. Stick to what's been working and get it done," Bruno said. "That was so much fun to be able to watch them do that and overcome some things"
Metcalf tied the match at 3-3 as she downed Ogut in a three-set battle, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6, on court six.
Lemonds clinched the match for the Spartans with an upset victory over No. 37 Hand at No. 2 singles. Lemonds defeated Hand, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 to secure the Spartans' second win over Northwestern in program history.
Michigan State will close out the 2019 regular season next weekend with an East Coast road trip to take on conference opponents Maryland and Rutgers. The Spartans will face Maryland on Friday, April 12, at 2 p.m. The team will close the regular season against Rutgers the following day with the match set to begin at 11 a.m.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,5,4,1,6,2
Players Mentioned
