Friday, April 9
Urbana-Champaign, Ill.
1 PM
Michigan State University
4
at
3
Illinois
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Michigan State Wins Come-From-Behind Thriller Against Illinois
4/9/2021 8:03:00 PM | Women's Tennis
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Down 3-2 with two matches remaining, the Michigan State women's tennis team stormed back to defeat Illinois, 4-3 at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Illinois on Friday.
The Spartans are currently 5-10 and 5-9 in Big Ten action, snapping a four-game losing streak. Illinois falls to 6-8 this season.
MSU avenged a, 4-3, loss to the Illini in East Lansing on March 28.
Michigan State captured the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles. At the No. 1 spot, senior Mary Lewis and junior Maja Pietrowicz defeated Asuka Kawai and Josie Frazier, 6-2. The Illini fought back with a win at the No. 2 position when Sasha Belaya and Emilee Duong doubled up, graduate student Samantha Memije and junior Nicole Stephens, 6-3. The Spartans clinched the point at the No. 3 spot, junior Lauren Lemonds and freshman Ayshe Can (MSU) def. Ashley Yeah and Kate Duong, 6-4.
The battle continued in singles action as Illinois tied the score at 1-1 when Kate Duong defeated Memije in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Michigan State went ahead 2-1 at No. 1 singles when Lewis defeated Kawai in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Illinois took a 3-2 lead with singles wins on No. 4 and No. 6 singles.
From there, Michigan State took over winning the final two matches. On court No. 5, 5. Stephens had an impressive come-from-behind win over Belaya. Stephens dropped the first set 4-6, before bouncing back to take the second and third sets by matching 6-3 margins.
With the score tied 3-3, all eyes shifted to court No. 2, Lemonds won the first set against Emilee Duong, 7-5. Duong captured the second, 4-6. With the game score knotted at 5-5, the junior won the last two games to earn the 7-5 win in the deciding set.
On Senior Day on April 11 against Indiana, Michigan State will honor Samantha Memije, Caroline Szabo and Kate Harvey. Michigan State will conclude the regular season next week at Michigan on Sunday, April 18 at 2 p.m.
The Spartans are currently 5-10 and 5-9 in Big Ten action, snapping a four-game losing streak. Illinois falls to 6-8 this season.
MSU avenged a, 4-3, loss to the Illini in East Lansing on March 28.
Michigan State captured the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles. At the No. 1 spot, senior Mary Lewis and junior Maja Pietrowicz defeated Asuka Kawai and Josie Frazier, 6-2. The Illini fought back with a win at the No. 2 position when Sasha Belaya and Emilee Duong doubled up, graduate student Samantha Memije and junior Nicole Stephens, 6-3. The Spartans clinched the point at the No. 3 spot, junior Lauren Lemonds and freshman Ayshe Can (MSU) def. Ashley Yeah and Kate Duong, 6-4.
The battle continued in singles action as Illinois tied the score at 1-1 when Kate Duong defeated Memije in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Michigan State went ahead 2-1 at No. 1 singles when Lewis defeated Kawai in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Illinois took a 3-2 lead with singles wins on No. 4 and No. 6 singles.
From there, Michigan State took over winning the final two matches. On court No. 5, 5. Stephens had an impressive come-from-behind win over Belaya. Stephens dropped the first set 4-6, before bouncing back to take the second and third sets by matching 6-3 margins.
With the score tied 3-3, all eyes shifted to court No. 2, Lemonds won the first set against Emilee Duong, 7-5. Duong captured the second, 4-6. With the game score knotted at 5-5, the junior won the last two games to earn the 7-5 win in the deciding set.
On Senior Day on April 11 against Indiana, Michigan State will honor Samantha Memije, Caroline Szabo and Kate Harvey. Michigan State will conclude the regular season next week at Michigan on Sunday, April 18 at 2 p.m.
Liisa Vehviläinen | The Way of Sisu | Spartans All-Access
Thursday, February 20
Kim Bruno | Women's Tennis Press Conference | Feb. 17 2025
Monday, February 17
Kim Bruno | Women's Tennis Press Conference | Jan. 28 2025
Tuesday, January 28
Spartans All-Access: Marlo Schiffman
Wednesday, April 03