Women’s Tennis Set for Third-Consecutive ITA Kick-Off Appearance This Weekend

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State women's tennis heads to Athens, Georgia for ITA Kick-Off Weekend, facing off against No. 3 Georgia on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. before playing either Furman or Notre Dame the following day.

ITA KICK-OFF WEEKEND
Michigan State was selected as one of 60 elite women's tennis programs in the nation to play in this prestigious annual event. Selection was based off the final 2018-19 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings.

Since the inception of the event 12 years ago, this will be MSU's fourth appearance and third-consecutive appearance, all under head coach Kim Bruno.

Last year at ITA Kick-Off, the Spartans fell to Princeton in the opening match, before shutting out VCU, 4-0, to close the weekend.

LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans opened its 2020 dual season with a dominant 7-0 sweep over Eastern Michigan on Thursday afternoon inside the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility.

The Spartans clinched the doubles point over the Eagles with wins on courts two and three. Senior Samantha Memije teamed up with sophomore Nicole Stephens in the third slot and came away 6-0 winners over Essence Eaton and Emma-Lou Pommiers.

MSU sophomore Jennifer Timotin and junior Mary Lewis clinched the point on court two with a 6-4 win over Isabelle Popma and Vasavi Ganesan of Eastern Michigan. Sophomore tandem Maja Pietrowicz and Lauren Lemonds finished right after the clinch, winning 6-4 over EMU's Marie Mayerova and Julia Piatek.

The Spartans continued their success on the singles courts, with all six Spartans sweeping their Eastern Michigan counterparts to rally for the 7-0 shutout in the team's home-opener.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Georgia Bulldogs are currently the No. 3-ranked team in the nation and are serving as the No. 2 seed at ITA Kick-Off Weekend. This is Georgia's 10^th time hosting since 2010 and they boast an 18-0 record when hosting.

Georgia leads the all-time series record with MSU, 3-0. The last meeting between the two programs was at ITA Kick-Off Weekend, where the Bulldogs defeated the Spartans, 4-0, in Athens.

QUOTING COACH BRUNO
"We came out in doubles a little jittery but the girls calmed it down and got it done, and that's what matters the most. We can finally get that monkey off our back, getting our first win under our belt before we get on the road. A 7-0 victory, can't do better than that. We just have to know that we are sitting at 1-0 heading to play a real tough team now and I'm glad that our season is up and running, I'll tell you that. It was good to see the girls compete, there's a lot of stuff we did well and a lot of stuff we still need to work on."

Women’s Tennis Set for Third-Consecutive ITA Kick-Off Appearance This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Lemonds

Mary Lewis

Samantha Memije

Maja Pietrowicz

Nicole Stephens

Jennifer Timotin