Spartans Fall to No. 7 Buckeyes

Friday, April 14

East Lansing, Mich.

5 PM

Michigan State University

Ohio State

Photo by: Megan Crain

4/14/2023 8:16:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State women's tennis battled hard but could not fend off No. 7 Ohio State, falling to the Buckeyes 4-1 at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Center on Friday evening. The loss drops MSU to 8-13 (1-9 Big Ten) while Ohio State moves to 16-5 (8-0 Big Ten) this spring.

"It was a tremendous effort," said head coach Kim Bruno. "We have had opportunities and I see a path to victory in every match but we just have not been able to play a complete match. We are a really good team and we just have to regroup."

Battling the evening heat, both teams came out looking to make strong impressions in the doubles portion, trading blows at the No. 2 and No. 3 slots. The Buckeyes would take an early advantage at the No. 2 court as the duo of Danielle Willson and Kolie Allen defeated MSU's Issey Purser and Marley Lambert, 6-2. However, the Spartans would take a quick lead at the No. 3 position and never look back as Spartans Juliette Nask and Dagmar Zdrubecka dispatched OSU's Shelly Bereznyak and Isabelle Boulais, 6-3.

The Spartans would clinch the doubles point in dramatic fashion as the pairing of Ayshe Can and Liisa Vehvilainen earned their 10^th victory as a pair this spring, rattling off five-straight game wins to defeat the Buckeyes' Sydni Ratliff and Irina Cantos Siemers, 7-5.

In singles, the Buckeyes would jump out to first set leads on the even courts, putting the Spartans at an early disadvantage. Ohio State would claim the first singles point as Cantos defeated MSU's Purser with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at the No. 2 slot. The Buckeyes would then take the lead at the No. 4 slot as OSU's Lucia Marzal defeated MSU's Zdrubecka, 6-1, 6-2.

Ohio State would pull to within one point of clinching the match at the No. 6 singles slot as MSU's Nicole Conard could not hold off the Buckeyes' Willson, falling 2-6, 3-6, as Ohio State took a 3-1 lead. Ohio State would clinch the match with a nail-biter at the No. 3 position as MSU's Lambert could not fend off the Buckeyes' Boulais, falling 4-6, 4-6 as Ohio State gathered the 4-1 win.

"We just have to play a complete match," said Bruno. "However, I am happy with our response. We are still sticking with the process and getting better and that says a lot about our group and what we can do."

The Spartans had success at the No. 1 and No. 5 positions before play was stopped. At No. 1 singles, Vehvilainen was engulfed in a battle with OSU's Sydni Ratliff with the Buckeye leading 2-0 in the third set. At the No. 5 slot, MSU's Nask was leading 6-3, 3-5 before play was halted.

UP NEXT
The Spartans wrap up the Big Ten regular season slate on Sunday, April 16 for Senior Day, taking on No. 60 Penn State at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center. First serve is scheduled for 11 a.m.

RESULTS
DOUBLES
1. Liisa Vehvilainen/Ayshe Can (MSU) def. Sydni Ratliff/Irina Cantos Siemers (OSU) 7-5
2. Danielle Willson/Kolie Allen (OSU) def. Issey Purser/Marley Lambert (MSU) 6-2
3. Dagmar Zdrubecka/Juliette Nask (MSU) def. Shelly Bereznyak/Isabelle Boulais (OSU) 6-3

SINGLES
1. Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU) vs. Sydni Ratliff (OSU) 6-2, 1-6, 0-2, unfinished
2. Irina Cantos Siemers (OSU) def. Issey Purser (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Isabelle Boulais (OSU) def. Marley Lambert (MSU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Lucia Marzal (OSU) def. Dagmar Zdrubecka (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Juliette Nask (MSU) vs. Kolie Allen (OSU) 6-3, 3-5, unfinished
6. Danielle Willson (OSU) def. Nicole Conard (MSU) 6-2, 6-3

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