Women’s Tennis Falls at FIU, 4-1

MIAMI – Michigan State women's tennis dropped a 4-1 dual match to the FIU Panthers on Tuesday afternoon at the FIU Tennis Courts.

The Spartans drop to 6-4 overall on the season with two matches remaining before the start of Big Ten Conference play at Michigan on Saturday, March 11, on the road in Ann Arbor. Following their victory on Tuesday, the Panthers climb to 7-3 overall with a 1-0 dual match record in Conference USA matches.

Per usual, the competition began on the doubles courts, with FIU taking an early 1-0 lead in the match after winning at the bottom two doubles positions. On court three, Salma Loudili and Katerina Mandelikova registered a 6-0 win over the Spartan combo of Nicole Conard and Juliette Nask. In the competition on court two, the 56th-ranked doubles tandem of Yasmine Kabbaj and Oyinlomo Quadre defeated MSU's Marley Lambert and Dagmar Zdrubecka in a narrow 6-4 competition to seal the opening score.

The match at the top line saw MSU's Ayshe Can and Liisa Vehvilainen pitted against No. 62 Ekaterina Khairutdinova and Kamilia Umarova, with the Spartan headliners maintaining a 5-4 advantage in the match before the competition was suspended after the doubles point was clinched.

After a short break, action resumed on the singles courts with FIU taking four-of-six first sets. The match at the bottom line was first off the courts, as Loudili defeated Spartan freshman Issey Purser in a 6-2, 7-6 outing that put the Panthers ahead 2-0. FIU would surge ahead by a 3-0 advantage after collecting a win on court one, with Kabbaj defeating Vehvilainen in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. The Spartans responded with a singles match win of their own on court two, as Can booked an impressive 6-3, 6-4 straight set victory over Khairutdinova to make it 3-1 in FIU's favor.

The Panthers went on to clinch the dual on court three, as Quadre defeated Lambert in a 7-5, 6-1 result. Conard was locked in a grueling 6-7, 3-2 battle on court four against Umarova, while Nask had just taken an early 1-0 advantage in her third set against Mandelikova, but both matches went unfinished after FIU clinched their seventh win of the season.

UP NEXT
Michigan State women's tennis returns to work on Thursday, March 9, as the Spartans extend their Spring Break stay in South Florida with a 12 p.m. start against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at the FIU Tennis Courts on the campus of Florida International University.

TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
FIU 4, Michigan State 1
FIU Tennis Courts – Miami, Fla.
DOUBLES
1. Ayshe Can / Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU) vs. #62 Ekaterina Khairutdinova / Kamila Umarova (FIU) 5-4, unfinished
2. #56 Yasmine Kabbaj / Oyinlomo Quadre (FIU) def. Marley Lambert / Dagmar Zdrubecka (MSU) 6-4
3. Salma Loudili / Katerina Mandelikova (FIU) def. Nicole Conard / Juliette Nask (MSU) 6-0

SINGLES
1. Yasmine Kabbaj (FIU) def. Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Ayshe Can (MSU) def. Ekaterina Khairutdinova (FIU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Oyinlomo Quadre (FIU) def. Marley Lambert (MSU) 7-5, 6-1
4. Nicole Conard (MSU) vs. Kamila Umarova (FIU) 6-7, 3-2, unfinished
5. Juliette Nask (MSU) vs. Katerina Mandelikova (FIU) 6-4, 1-6, 1-0, unfinished
6. Salma Loudili (FIU) def. Issey Purser (MSU) 6-2, 7-6

Order of Finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,1,2,3)

FOLLOW THE SPARTANS
Visit MSUSpartans.com for more information on Michigan State women's tennis. Fans can keep up to date with the Spartan women's tennis team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by following @MSU_WTennis.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Ayshe Can

Nicole Conard

Marley Lambert

Juliette Nask

Issey Purser

Liisa Vehviläinen

Dagmar Zdrubecka