Women's Tennis Opens Fall at Wildcat Invitational
9/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's tennis team opens its fall season this weekend at the Wildcat Invitational in Evanston, Illinois, from Friday, Sept. 25, to Sunday, Sept. 27. The Spartans enter the season returning their top-five players from a year ago, while welcoming in two freshmen.
"This weekend will have some great competition," said eighth year head coach Simone Jardim. "This is a good way to start the fall season, and we will match up with good players to get our feet wet. Some of our team has not played matches in awhile, so we are excited to see them play and compete."
Sophomore Lexi Baylis was already writing her name in the record books last season and looks to continue the trend in 2015-16. On April 4, 2015, against Indiana, Baylis broke the MSU school record for the most single-season singles victories when she recorded her 28th of the year. She completed her freshman campaign 30-8 in singles. Her victories were over half of the freshmen class' 54.
Forty-two of the team's 137 singles wins from last season return in the form of senior Emily Meyers and junior Erin Faulkner. Both upperclassmen tallied 21 wins apiece. Faulkner was invited to compete in the 2015 Riviera/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women's All-American Championships in Palisades, California, from Oct. 3-11, in the prequalifying round.
"We set the pace for the spring season in the fall," Jardim said. "It's all about confidence, and if you start beating good players off the bat, then you start to believe you are good and belong, which builds momentum in each tournament. To reach our goals and to go where we want to go, we need to start performing this fall."
Other Spartans looking to have an impact this season are the program's two new faces, freshmen Davina Nguyen and Emily Metcalf. Nguyen, a native of Utica, Michigan, was a three-time all-state performer for Utica High School. Metcalf comes to East Lansing after a standout career at Valley View High School in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She won four-straight state titles and was the overall state champion in both 2013 and 2014.
Michigan State finished the 2015 season No. 68 in the country, ranked with nine other Big Ten teams in the ITA's top 75. A major contributor to MSU's 16 wins a year ago were three Spartans finishing the season with winning records in Big Ten singles play, marking the most in program history since 1993.
For complete results following each day of action, visit MSUSpartans.com.
Players Mentioned
