No. 17 Badgers Nip Spartans in Homestand Finale

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State women's tennis could not overcome early deficits, eventually falling to No. 17 Wisconsin on Sunday at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center, 5-0. With the loss, MSU slides to 8-8 (1-4 Big Ten) while the Badgers move to 14-4 (5-2 Big Ten).

"We weren't probably expected to beat this team, but I still think we have the ability," said head coach Kim Bruno. "We can do some damage to good programs like Wisconsin. We just have to keep moving forward."

The Spartans fought in a highly contested doubles portion, pushing the doubles point to a decisive third match at No. 2 doubles. The Badgers took an early advantage at No. 1 doubles as MSU's pairing of Ayshe Can and Liisa Vehvilainen could not complete the comeback, falling to Xinyu Cai and Alina Mukhortova 6-4. MSU would tie things up just moments later as Nicole Conard and Issey Purser claimed six-straight games en route to a 7-5 win at the No. 3 slot for their third-straight doubles win.

In a thrilling match at No. 2 doubles, Spartans Marley Lambert and Dagmar Zdrubecka fell to Wisconsin's No. 65 pairing of Maria Sholokhova and Ava Markham 6-7 (2) as the Badgers took the opening point.

MSU would start the singles portion at a disadvantage as Can was unable to go in the second half of the dual, forcing the Spartans to shuffle the lineup. With the new lineup, Wisconsin took advantage by jumping out to one-set leads on all six courts.

"It's hard when your number two girl goes out, but it's just part of the game," said Bruno. "People have to be ready, and I thought the girls did the best they could with that situation."

Wisconsin would steal the first two singles points with wins at No. 2 and No. 6 singles as No. 92 Maria Sholokhova defeated MSU's Lambert 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 2 slot. At No. 6 singles, Spartan Tia Mukherjee fell to Wisconsin's Charmaine Seah at No. 6 singles, 6-2, 6-3 as the Badgers stormed off to a 3-0 lead.

The Badgers would clinch the match with simultaneous wins at No. 4 and No. 5 singles as the Spartans could not come back to force a third set. In a valiant effort at No. 4 singles, Conard could not cap off the comeback in the second set, falling to Wisconsin's Taylor Cataldi. Meanwhile, at No. 5 singles, freshman Juliette Nask dropped a close tilt with Wisconsin's No. 113 Xinyu Cai, 6-3, 6-4 as the Badger's took the final two points of the dual to secure the 5-0 win.

Spartan efforts were halted at the No. 1 and No. 3 singles positions after Wisconsin clinched the match. Vehvilainen and Purser were in the third set of their respective matches when play was stopped.

Up next, the Spartans hit the road for a weekend doubleheader, taking on Illinois on Friday, March 31 and capping the weekend with a trip to Northwestern on Sunday, April 2. Friday's match against the Fighting Illini is slated for 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT and Sunday's match against the Wildcats is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET / noon CT.

RESULTS
DOUBLES
1. Xinyu Cai/Alina Mukhortova (WIS) def. Liisa Vehvilainen/Ayshe Can (MSU) 6-4
2. #65 Maria Sholokhova/Ava Markham (WIS) def. Marley Lambert/Dagmar Zdrubecka (MSU) 7-6 (7-2)
3. Issey Purser/Nicole Conard (MSU) def. Charmaine Seah/Taylor Cataldi (WIS) 7-5

SINGLES
1. Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU) vs. #44 Ava Markham (WIS) 1-6, 6-4, 0-1, unfinished
2. #92 Maria Sholokhova (WIS) def. Marley Lambert (MSU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Issey Purser (MSU) vs. Alina Mukhortova (WIS) 1-6, 6-4, 0-2, unfinished
4. Taylor Cataldi (WIS) def. Nicole Conard (MSU) 6-2, 7-5
5. #113 Xinyu Cai (WIS) def. Juliette Nask (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Charmaine Seah (WIS) def. Tia Mukherjee (MSU) 6-2, 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,6,4,5)

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Ayshe Can

Nicole Conard

Marley Lambert

Tia Mukherjee

Juliette Nask

Issey Purser

Liisa Vehviläinen

Dagmar Zdrubecka