Photo by: Matthew Mitchell/MSU Athletic Communications
MSU Women’s Tennis Feature: The Fab Fin
4/22/2025 4:04:00 PM | Women's Tennis
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By: By Dylan Engels, For MSUSpartans.com
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State women's tennis team has only one senior on its roster, Liisa Vehviläinen, who's path to East Lansing was a little bit different than most.
Vehviläinen, who is from Turku, Finland, grew up cross-country skiing and playing hockey.
"My mom was a cross country skier and that was the first sport I picked up until I was an early teen," Vehviläinen said, "Cross country skiing was a bit boring for me, you run in the summer, ski in the winter and it's physically brutal, so I thought tennis was more interesting and had better opportunities."
Vehviläinen, who is studying economics, originally committed to North Texas when she started college.
"I thought North Texas was a good fit for me but honestly I was wrong," she said. "As a foreigner, you don't really know college sports, I never thought college sports were as big of a thing as it is here."
Vehviläinen explained that growing up, professional sports was what she knew and that is part of the reason she didn't expect college sports to be that big.
"You follow the mainstream sports in Finland," Vehviläinen said. "For us that's mainly the NHL or skiing."
Vehviläinen entered the transfer portal after her freshman year, landing at Michigan State.
"There definitely are similarities to home, both have fairly cold climates during the winter and I'm a big fan of snow," she said. "I'm a big fan of four seasons, so that definitely played a role."
Vehviläinen also mentioned that another similarity between the tennis she played growing up and Michigan State was indoor tennis.
"I grew up playing indoor tennis my whole life," said Vehviläinen. "We play quite a bit of indoor tennis here as well so that was definitely a factor in coming to Michigan State."
MSU women's tennis head coach Kim Bruno talked about what they saw in Vehviläinen's recruitment to Michigan State and why they decided to continue to add her to the team.
"Her game style caught our attention," said Bruno. "She makes a lot of balls in the court, which that's very hard to beat."
When Bruno mentions the balls in the court play style, she is talking about how Vehviläinen makes her opponents play her style by making them play the ball or give up a point.
Bruno was impressed when Vehviläinen came on her visit to Michigan State as well.
"When she came on her visit, she was very stoic and to the point, you kind of knew what you were going to get from her." said Bruno. "She carries herself with a little bit of toughness and will take help."
Bruno added that although Vehviläinen wasn't being recruited immediately out of Finland, but is glad she's a Green & White-clad Spartan.
"We got her in the end, so that's what matters," said Bruno. "We got three years from her, which is better than one."
The Spartan coaching staff and Liisa Vehviläinen have made many lasting memories on and off the court during her time as a Spartan.
Vehviläinen was named a Big Ten Player to Watch entering this season, which she said is a nice honor, but doesn't look into it too much.
She competes in both singles and doubles. Her most common doubles partner this spring season is a fellow European, Ellie Blackford from Chelmsford, England. She has also competed with sophomore Natalie Stasny, from Woodridge Illinois, breaking the theme of Vehviläinen having a fellow European partner.
With Vehviläinen being the only senior on the team, she brought up how she wants to work hard to finish her career.
"I just want to enjoy the ride," said Vehviläinen. "The season is coming to an end pretty soon. Time flies so I just want to enjoy whatever is left."
Bruno agreed and said that through Vehviläinen's hard work over the years, she has improved substantially.
"She keeps plugging along, this could be one of her best years yet," said Bruno. "I have been super grateful to have her these last three years."
Vehviläinen and the Spartan women's tennis team are the No. 11 seed in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament at Liberty Park in Ojai, Calif., and the Spartans will take on No. 6 seeded USC in the first-round match-up on Wednesday, April 23 at 9 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. PST.
Fans can follow the action live from Ojai, Calif., with "Watch Live" and "Live Results" links at MSUSpartans.com.
