MSU women’s tennis falls to Purdue 4-1, drop to 0-5 in conference play – The State News

The Michigan State women’s tennis team fell to the Purdue Boilermakers, 4-1, which now extends its losing streak to four games. With the loss, the Spartans are now 9-10 overall and 0-5 in Big Ten play.

Michigan State was looking for its first conference win in hopes of gaining momentum, as the Spartans will face Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin in the next two weeks, who have a combined record of 11-1 in conference play.

In the first of the three doubles matches, sophomores Issey Purser and Matilde Morais faced off against Purdue’s Carmen Gallardo Gueva and Tara Katarina Milic. The Boilermakers were in control the entire game as Purser and Morais could never get into a synchronous rhythm. And when it looked like the Spartans could possibly come back, Purdue was able to stop them from going on a run. Purdue won the match 6-3.

In the second doubles match, sophomore Marley Lambert and junior Liisa Vehvilainen, both representing the Spartans, took on fifth-year senior Csilla Fodor and sophomore Kennedy Gibbs, representing the Boilermakers. This match also ended with a Purdue victory with a final score of 6-2, as, similar to the previous match, was purely dominated by Purdue. The Spartans were never able to get the lead, always trailing Purdue.

With Purdue winning the first two of the three possible doubles matches, the third and final match was ruled unfinished.

During the singles matches, Michigan State was completely out-matched. The Boilermakers won three out of the four singles matches and the other two matches were ruled unfinished.

In the first singles match, Morais faced Gueva, with the first set being full of excitement. Both Matilda and Gueva kept the set close as they would have to go into a tie-breaker. Carman won with a score of 8-6 in the tie-breaker, adding to a final score of 7-6 in the set. In the second set, Purdue won comfortably with a score of 6-3 as Gueva controlled the set to win.

In the second and third singles matches, both teams fought hard until the end and both matches went to a full three sets. Michigan State’s freshman Natalie Stasny faced off against Purdue’s sophomore Ashlie Wilson, and Purser, who represented the Spartans, went up against junior Juana Larranaga, who represented the Boilermakers. Both matches went back and forth and throughout the sets, either person could win. Purser took the first set with a score of 6-3 and Wilson of Purdue took the first set of her game with a score of 6-4. In the second sets of the matches, Stasny won the second set with a score of 6-3 and Larranaga of Purdue won her second set 6-4. In the third set of both matches, both Larranaga and Wilson won their sets 6-2 and 6-4.

Later on, Michigan State’s graduate student Nicole Conrad went up against Purdue’s Milic. The match went back and forth and eventually went into a tie-breaker for both sets. Conrad ended up winning both sets 7-6 after she won both of the tie-breakers.

Michigan State looks to get its first conference win as the Spartans will go up against the Indiana Hoosiers at home in East Lansing on Sunday, March 31 at 11 a.m.