Spartan Women’s Tennis Closes Four-Game Homestand With Doubleheader Sweep Sunday

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State women's tennis closed out its season-long four-match homestand in a triumphant manner with a Sunday sweep of a doubleheader with victories against Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.

MSU beat WMU, 4-1, in the morning opener, before blanking EMU, 4-0 in the afternoon match.

"I think from the first match to this match, we got better," MSU head coach Kim Bruno said post-match. "Not just within our doubles play, but I think our singles performances were just solid, and that's hard to do. Going back-to-back and playing that much tennis, the girls are gassed, but we have to overcome those situations to be better, and we did just that."

The Spartans have now won four matches in a row, winning all four matches of the homestand, to improve to 4-2 on the season with Sunday's pair of victories over in-state foes. WMU is now 5-2, while EMU is 2-4.

The Green & White began their contest against Western Michigan at 10 a.m. with doubles matches against the Broncos.

First to complete their match was junior Sarah Fazlagic and freshman Olivia Kutlova, making their debut as a doubles pair. While the partners were able to put up points, they dropped their match 2-6.

At number one doubles was the senior/freshman tandem of Liisa Vehvilainen/Ellie Blackford. The Spartan duo was able to successfully finish their match at 6-3, now forcing an even fiercer competition for the doubles point.

With the pressure on, redshirt-sophomore Natalie Stasny and junior Issey Purser were unable to make a comeback and were topped by their WMU opponents, falling 4-6.

The Spartans had their work cut out for them in singles matches. Junior Natalie Stasny was the first to even the score with the Broncos, going 6-0, 6-1 in her contest.

Freshman Amara Brahmbhatt followed quickly, dominating her WMU foe 6-3, 6-0 at number five singles.

Redshirt-sophomroe Oriana Parkins-Godwin, added to the score to the Spartans' total, also securing her match 6-1, 6-2.

With three points secured, it was down to Vehvilainen, junior Matilde Morais or Blackford to secure the match for the Green & White.

Vehvilainen ended the match, clinching the first victory of the day for the Spartans, 6-3, 6-4.

At 2 p.m. the Spartans returned to the courts to face off against the EMU Eagles.

Doubles matches started off the afternoon battle with the consistent Vehvilainen/Blackford tandem taking to the court, securing the first win towards the doubles point at 6-0.

It was a battle of who would finish first between the Brahmbhatt/Parkins-Godwin duo and the Morais/Tsitavets tandem, both at 5-set points and 40-love. In the end, the Brahmbhatt/Parkins-Godwin pair completed the point first, securing the doubles point for MSU at 6-3.

With the doubles point on lock, the Spartans only needed three singles wins to declare a doubleheader sweep.

The late singles addition of Purser added a competitive edge against EMU, winning her match at singles number five, 6-0, 6-1.

Moving up to number four singles was redshirt-sophomore Hanna Tsitavets, who got the point total up to three, dominating her match 6-1, 6-0.

To finish out the strenuous day for the Spartans was Blackford, who secured the final necessary point to complete the team sweep at 6-2, 6-1.

MSU will have the week off from competition, before returning to action traveling to Lynchburg, Va. for a weekend of play against James Madison on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. and Liberty on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 11 a.m.

The following week on Feb. 23, the Spartans are back in East Lansing for yet another Sunday doubleheader facing off against Youngstown State and Ball State starting at 10 a.m. at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.

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.

Tennis Match Results
Western Michigan vs Michigan State
Michigan State 4, Western Michigan 1

Singles competition
1. Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU-W) def. Polina Khotko (WMUW) 6-3, 6-4
2. Matilde Morais (MSU-W) vs. Christine Gouws (WMUW) 6-4, 2-6, unfinished
3. Ellie Blackford (MSU-W) vs. Sienna Osborne (WMUW) 5-7, 6-1, unfinished
4. Oriana Parkins-Godwi (MSU-W) def. Frida Weijerman (WMUW) 6-1, 6-2
5. Amara Brahmbhatt (MSU-W) def. Marielou Baudouin (WMUW) 6-3, 6-0
6. Natalie Stasny (MSU-W) def. Julia Frazier (WMUW) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Liisa Vehvilainen/Ellie Blackford (MSU-W) def. Polina Khotko/Julia Frazier (WMUW) 6-3
2. Sienna Osborne/Frida Weijerman (WMUW) def. Natalie Stasny/Issey Purser (MSU-W) 6-4
3. Marielou Baudouin/Christine Gouws (WMUW) def. Sarah Fazlagic/Olivia Kutlova (MSU-W) 6-2

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

Tennis Match Results
Eastern Michigan vs Michigan State
Michigan State 4, Eastern Michigan 0

Singles competition
1. Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU-W) vs. Hazmukova, Viki (EMU) 7-5, unfinished
2. Matilde Morais (MSU-W) vs. Daneva, Iva (EMU) 6-3, 2-1, unfinished
3. Ellie Blackford (MSU-W) def. Komar, Marta (EMU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Hanna Tsitavets (MSU-W) def. Saenko, Kseniia (EMU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Issey Purser (MSU-W) def. Diaz Zayas, Lara (EMU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Natalie Stasny (MSU-W) vs. Mendez, Regina (EMU) 6-3, 2-3, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. Ellie Blackford/Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU-W) def. Komar, Marta/Saenko, Kseniia (EMU) 6-0
2. Matilde Morais/Hanna Tsitavets (MSU-W) vs. Daneva, Iva/Hazmukova, Viki (EMU) 5-2, unfinished
3. Amara Brahmbhatt/Oriana Parkins-Godwi (MSU-W) def. Diaz Zayas, Lara/Vichare, Prerna (EMU) 6-3

Match Notes:
Eastern Michigan 2-4
Michigan State 4-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (5,4,3)

Spartan Women’s Tennis Closes Four-Game Homestand With Doubleheader Sweep Sunday

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Ellie Blackford

Amara Brahmbhatt

Sarah Fazlagic

Olivia Kutlova

Matilde Morais

Oriana Parkins-Godwin

Issey Purser

Natalie Stasny

Hanna Tsitavets