Freshman Renata de Paiva returns the ball to her opponent, Penn State’s Michaela Stracar, during their singles match Sunday at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. Paiva defeated Stracar 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in MSU’s 6-1 victory.
The MSU women’s tennis team waited three long weeks for the effort it showed Sunday.
The Spartans hadn’t won a Big Ten match heading into Sunday’s match against Penn State but looked a far cry from the 0-6 conference team it was entering Sunday, getting a gritty 6-1 win that featured two third-set singles match victories.
“We’ve been looking for the day when we would all come out ready to play, and that’s been the biggest thing for us,” MSU head coach Simone Jardim said.
“We’ve been fighting hard throughout all the Big Ten matches. To get the win is showing that we’re getting there. We’re getting better each time we step on the court and that we’re believing more.”
The Spartans showed no ill effects of the 6-1 loss they suffered against Ohio State on Saturday, instead getting off to a strong start in doubles to take an early lead.
The Spartans moved on to singles, where they fought to the wire in three matches and also made a theme of battling back from deficits.
Freshman Nicole Herzog dropped the first set 6-2 against Penn State senior Lauren McCarthy before registering a comeback in the second and third sets for the win.
Junior Whitney Wilson faced a similarly tight match against Penn State sophomore Maria Prishlyak, edging her in a back-and-forth 7-6 set before earning a 6-4 second-set win in the No. 3 singles match.
MSU’s toughness once again was tested at No. 4 singles, where sophomore Elena Ivanova held off Penn State junior Denisa Zobeideh, 6-2, 7-5, in a long match that hinged on each players’ ability to avoid mistakes.
Freshman Michaela Silesova dropped a close match against Penn State freshman Amy Simidian in the No. 1 singles and was the only Spartan to fall in the singles.
Jardim said the Spartans had struggled to close out matches in recent weeks, but Sunday’s effort to fight from start to finish should go a long way in the Big Ten.
“I was down in the first set 6-2, and it’s really hard to come back from it, but I just kept fighting,” Herzog said.
“It actually felt great winning today because I’ve been playing in a lot of tight matches. It feels great.”
Despite her singles loss, Silesova teamed with Ivanova to capture victory in the No. 2 doubles match 8-6 against McCarthy and Zobeideh to get the Spartans off to a good start.
Herzog and Wilson fell in No. 1 doubles, as the Spartans lost both the No. 1 doubles and singles events but won every other match.
MSU junior Manon Noe and senior Christine Milliken teamed to win the No. 3 doubles match.
The Spartans have three Big Ten matches during the next two weeks before competing in the Big Ten Championships from April 29 to May 2 and hope to use Sunday’s effort to spearhead a more complete effort the rest of the season.
“When we get a full team on the same page, it’s going to go really well and that’s what happened today,” Wilson said. “The first Big Ten win is just the start. We have three big matches coming up for the regular Big Ten season, and we’re confident that we can go out and play the same way we did today, and I think we’ll do well.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
