Michigan State University
Iowa
Spartans Fall On the Road at Iowa, 4-3
3/18/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Michigan State women's tennis team fell to Iowa, 4-3, in its second Big Ten match of the season. MSU is now 10-4 on the season and 1-1 in conference play, while the Hawkeyes improve to 9-6 on the season and gain their first conference win.
Today's match also ended a seven-match road swing for MSU as the team went 3-3, with one match suspended due to weather.
"We didn't have the same fight today as we needed to have," head coach Kim Bruno said. "I guess we looked at Nebraska as more of an opportunity and today we let things go by us that we shouldn't. Nothing's going to be easy, we can't relax for a minute and we felt that we did a little today."
The Hawkeyes secured the doubles point by winning on courts one and two, giving them a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
At No. 3 doubles, freshman Ava Thielman and senior Lexi Baylis defeated Montana Crawford and Danielle Burich, 6-4, to put MSU in the running for the doubles point.
Iowa evened the race as senior Habiba Shaker and freshman Sara Kuuttila fell to Zoe Douglas and Adorabol Huckleby, 7-5, on court two.
The doubles point was clinched for Iowa on court one, as the duo of juniors Emily Metcalf and Davina Nguyen dropped a close match with Elise van Heuvelen and Anastasia Reimchen, 7-5.
MSU evened the match at 1-1 as sophomore Samantha Memije defeated Burich in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, on court six.
Iowa clinched the match with three straight singles victories. Senior Aslina Chua fell at first singles to Van Heuvelen, 6-3, 6-1. At No. 4 singles, Nguyen fell to Huckleby, 6-3, 6-4.
The match was clinched on court three as Reimchen defeated Kuuttila, 6-3, 6-3.
MSU secured wins on courts two and five to end the match on a positive note. Shaker battled with Douglas to a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory on court two. Metcalf ended the match by defeating Crawford, 6-2, 0-6, 7-5.
On Friday, the Spartans defeated No. 21-ranked Nebraska, 4-2, to open Big Ten play. This was the highest win versus a ranked opponent in Spartan women's tennis history. Prior to this, the highest was Michigan State's 4-3 win over No. 34 Illinois on April 5, 2014.
"When all eight of us are in and have more energy and more desire to win, we can beat a lot of great teams. But that has to be consistent for us, every time it has to be the same when we play. At the end of the day, I think Iowa just wanted it a little more than us today."
The Spartans return home next weekend after a seven-match road swing, as they welcome Big Ten opponent Indiana in their Big Ten home season opener on Friday, March 23, with the match set to begin at 3 p.m. The team will then travel to Wisconsin on Sunday, March 25, at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
