Friday, September 24
Urbana, Ill.
All Day
Michigan State University
at
ITA Regionals
Stephens Shines for Women’s Tennis at ITA Midwest Regionals
9/26/2021 5:55:00 PM | Women's Tennis
URBANA, Ill. – The Michigan State women's tennis team wrapped up its opening weekend of the 2021-22 season at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regionals on Sunday morning, when senior Nicole Stephens was defeated in the Singles Open round-of-16 at the Atkins Tennis Center.
Falling by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to Megan Heuser of Illinois, Stephens closed out a three-day stay for the Spartans that saw four of the six singles participants pick up a win, while both doubles pairings notched a victory as well.
Starting off the main singles bracket for MSU on Friday, freshman Charlotte Gisclon got her first win with the Spartans via a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Chicago State's Kristina Pukhaeva, but fell in the round-of-64 later that day to Shelly Bereznyak from Ohio State (6-3, 6-0).
Stephens received a bye in the opening round and met Bowling Green's Maru Poppe in the round-of-64 on Friday, defeating Poppe by scores of 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. In the third round on Saturday, Stephens got revenge for Gisclon's earlier loss, beating Bereznyak with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 victory. Stephens would again go three sets in the round-of-16 on Sunday, but Heuser picked up her second of two wins over Michigan State players for the weekend.
Two other Spartans advanced in the singles tournament. Sophomore Ayshe Can won a 6-2, 6-3 match against Eastern Michigan's Luisa Pelayo in Friday's round-of-64, before losing to Alexandra Abyasova from Illinois State by a 6-4, 6-1 score on Saturday. As for senior Maja Pietrowicz, she knocked off Dominika Hrabalova of UIC (6-0, 6-1), but was knocked off herself the next day by Northwestern's Ema Lazic (6-4, 6-0) in the round-of-32.
Junior Dagmar Zdrubecka opened the weekend by facing Bowling Green's Florencia Fuentes in the first round of the main bracket, losing 6-1, 6-0. Zdrubecka then fell in a consolation match to Northwestern's Kiley Rabjohns via a 6-1, 6-0 score.
For senior Lauren Lemonds, her singles run ended in the round-of-64 after a first-round bye, falling to UIC's Ana Jover in a 6-3, 6-2 match on Friday.
The Stephens/Gisclon and Lemonds/Can pairings also found success in the main doubles tournament on Saturday. Stephens and Gisclon took their first match, 8-7(6), over the DePaul duo of Maddie Yergler and Marija Jovicic, before falling in the round-of-16 to the Ashley Yeah/Megan Heuser pair from Illinois, 8-2. For Lemonds and Can, they defeated Natalija Popovic and Andie Weise from Marquette, 8-4, but were knocked off by the Denise Stoica/Alina Mukhortova duo from Wisconsin, 8-4.
Michigan State will continue its fall slate Oct. 1-3 at the Michigan Invite, while Pietrowicz and graduate student Mary Lewis are set to head to the ITA All-American Championships on Monday, Oct. 4 as the No. 28-ranked doubles pairing in the nation.
Falling by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to Megan Heuser of Illinois, Stephens closed out a three-day stay for the Spartans that saw four of the six singles participants pick up a win, while both doubles pairings notched a victory as well.
Starting off the main singles bracket for MSU on Friday, freshman Charlotte Gisclon got her first win with the Spartans via a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Chicago State's Kristina Pukhaeva, but fell in the round-of-64 later that day to Shelly Bereznyak from Ohio State (6-3, 6-0).
Stephens received a bye in the opening round and met Bowling Green's Maru Poppe in the round-of-64 on Friday, defeating Poppe by scores of 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. In the third round on Saturday, Stephens got revenge for Gisclon's earlier loss, beating Bereznyak with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 victory. Stephens would again go three sets in the round-of-16 on Sunday, but Heuser picked up her second of two wins over Michigan State players for the weekend.
Two other Spartans advanced in the singles tournament. Sophomore Ayshe Can won a 6-2, 6-3 match against Eastern Michigan's Luisa Pelayo in Friday's round-of-64, before losing to Alexandra Abyasova from Illinois State by a 6-4, 6-1 score on Saturday. As for senior Maja Pietrowicz, she knocked off Dominika Hrabalova of UIC (6-0, 6-1), but was knocked off herself the next day by Northwestern's Ema Lazic (6-4, 6-0) in the round-of-32.
Junior Dagmar Zdrubecka opened the weekend by facing Bowling Green's Florencia Fuentes in the first round of the main bracket, losing 6-1, 6-0. Zdrubecka then fell in a consolation match to Northwestern's Kiley Rabjohns via a 6-1, 6-0 score.
For senior Lauren Lemonds, her singles run ended in the round-of-64 after a first-round bye, falling to UIC's Ana Jover in a 6-3, 6-2 match on Friday.
The Stephens/Gisclon and Lemonds/Can pairings also found success in the main doubles tournament on Saturday. Stephens and Gisclon took their first match, 8-7(6), over the DePaul duo of Maddie Yergler and Marija Jovicic, before falling in the round-of-16 to the Ashley Yeah/Megan Heuser pair from Illinois, 8-2. For Lemonds and Can, they defeated Natalija Popovic and Andie Weise from Marquette, 8-4, but were knocked off by the Denise Stoica/Alina Mukhortova duo from Wisconsin, 8-4.
Michigan State will continue its fall slate Oct. 1-3 at the Michigan Invite, while Pietrowicz and graduate student Mary Lewis are set to head to the ITA All-American Championships on Monday, Oct. 4 as the No. 28-ranked doubles pairing in the nation.
Players Mentioned
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