Michigan State University
Ohio State University
Women's Tennis Clipped by No. 11 Ohio State
3/17/2024 3:56:00 PM | Women's Tennis
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State women's tennis team battled hard but couldn't hang on against No. 11-ranked Ohio State, downed 4-2 inside the MSU Indoor Tennis facility on Sunday afternoon.
The Spartans record dropped to 9-7 overall and 0-2 in B1G competition. The Buckeyes improve to 8-6 and picked up their first Big Ten victory of the season, advancing to 1-1.
"This is a good team, we're in there every step of the way," said head coach Kim Bruno. "We definitely did a better job today than we did against Penn State to put ourselves in better positions to achieve what we want to achieve. I believe our story is still left unwritten. We just got to go right back at it against Rutgers and Maryland next weekend."
Ohio State would strike first on the doubles court to take an early 1-0 lead with a pair of 6-1 victories on courts one and three. It was a top 40 matchup on court one as the No. 38-ranked pairing of senior Ayshe Can and graduate Nicole Conard went head-to-head with No. 32-ranked Irina Cantos Siemers and Luciana Perry. The Buckeyes pairing pounced early to a 5-0 lead and taking the contest, 6-1.
On court three, sophomores Matilde Morais and Issey Purser were downed by Ohio State's pairing of Akanksha Bhan and Madeline Atway, 6-1.
It was a gritty effort for the Green and White in the singles competition. Freshman Natalie Stasny would get the Spartans on the scoreboard as she picked up her third victory of the season in only two sets. It was a tightly contested battle on the first set between Stasny and Cau Alessia as the Woodbridge, Illinois, native pulled away with a 6-4 victory. In the second set, it was all Stasny as she rolled her way to a 6-2 victory.
On the top court, Morais sparked a comeback down 3-4 in the first set taking No. 55-ranked Perry into a tiebreaker, winning 10-8. Morais would complete the upset in straight sets, with a 6-4 decision in the second set.
"Mati [Morais] been a great addition to this program," said Bruno, "she been clicking away at what she's capable of. Congrats to her going out there and getting it done. Let's do it again."
The Buckeyes would advance their league to 3-0 with wins on courts four (6-1, 6-1), three (6-1, 6-3). On court five, sophomore Marley Lambert put on a valiant effort taking the first set (6-4) against Atway Madeline but dropped the last two sets, (1-6, 0-6).
Michigan State will be heading back east for a B1G weekend slate, as it takes on Rutgers on Friday, March 22 at 12 p.m., then takes a short trip to College Park, Maryland, to face Maryland on Sunday, March 24 at 12 p.m.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
4,3,6,1,5
Players Mentioned
