MSU headed into the weekend matches with two consecutive Big Ten Conference wins, against Nebraska and Iowa. After the Saturday and Sunday matches, they improved their record to 16-5 overall, 4-3 Big Ten.
Winning their third consecutive Big Ten match against Illinois on Saturday, the Spartans clinched the doubles point with wins by Bohrer and freshman Erin Faulkner, followed by a win by junior Catherine Parenteau and freshman Athena Trouillot.
Bohrer and Faulkner earned their 12th win of the season. Parenteau and Trouillot trailed in the beginning of the match, but came back to win in a tiebreak.
Bohrer also picked up a singles win for MSU — who won three of six singles matches.
After Bohrer’s match, Illinois won three singles matches, topping the Spartans 3-2 in the match. Parenteau tied for MSU by beating Illinois’ Melissa Kopinski — improving to 11-5 in the spring season and 4-2 in the Big Ten. Senior Olga Chernova clinched the win for the Spartans in a tiebreak win over Illinois’ Jerricka Boone — winning her team-high 16th singles match of the season.
“We’ve been having to count on different people and I feel like I’m hitting the same note every time, but on any given day, somebody else has to show up,” head coach Simone Jardim told msuspartans.com. “We wanted it really badly and I’m really proud. We are definitely peaking at the right time — this is what we want.”
The Spartans’ match against Illinois was dedicated to Hailey Marie Brouillet, an acquaintance of one of the team members — the team honored her by wearing a blue ribbon in their hair. Brouillet passed away in a car accident last October.
Playing their first match at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Courts on Sunday, the team fell short 6-1 against Northwestern, snapping their three-match conference win streak.
For the sixth time this season — in 21 matches — MSU lost the doubles point.
Bohrer and Faulkner clinched the only ranked win in the doubles matches, defeating the No. 21 doubles team in the nation — Northwestern’s Veronica Corning and Alicia Barnett — in a tiebreaker. The win did not get the Spartans any points in the overall match, though.
In the singles matches, the team won one of six matches.Bohrer picked up the only point for the Spartans, along with her second ranked win on the day, beating No. 44-ranked Corning.
“Our goals are now different than probably a couple months ago,” Jardim told msuspartans.com after the win against Illinois.
MSU hosts Wisconsin at 11 a.m. on Saturday and No. 55 Minnesota at noon on Sunday.
