The MSU women’s tennis team lost 4-1 to Purdue in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.

The match was the fifth-straight loss for the No. 68 Spartans (11-12 overall, 3-8 Big Ten) who fell to the No. 48 Boilermakers. But MSU is still on the hunt for a bid to the NCAA Regionals on May 10-12.

With only 64 teams receiving a bid to regionals, Spartan head coach Tim Bauer said he doesn’t think MSU will earn a bid. He said the Spartans are a darkhorse.

“We probably will not,” Bauer said. “Just because we probably won’t be ranked high enough in the polls.”

The loss to Purdue (10-11, 6-5), the second in five days, may have brought an abrupt end to the Spartans season in Bloomington, Ind.

“We talked about getting revenge,” Bauer said. “We were happy with our draw. We actually played a better match than before. It just wasn’t enough today.”

MSU opened Thursday’s match by losing the doubles point for the seventh-straight match.

The Spartans’ only point of the match came in the No. 3 singles match, when sophomore Caroline Lay defeated Melissa Ward 6-1, 6-2.

MSU’s No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches were abandoned, leaving freshman Dora Vastag and junior Asa Liden, respectively, without closure. The matches were abandoned since the Spartans had no chance to win, regardless of the outcome.

At one point this season, the Spartans were ranked No. 63 - their highest ranking ever. It was just one of the many highlights in the team’s season.

With a 5-2 win over Minnesota at the Indoor Tennis Facility on March 16, the Spartans snapped a string of 33 consecutive conference losses. Then, they ended a 15-year drought when they defeated Michigan 4-3 on March 28.

“They weren’t aware of such a losing streak,” Bauer said. “We set really high goals for the team so we don’t look too much at what hasn’t been done in the past. We set out really ambitious goals, and I wouldn’t say we’re surprised because that’s what we’re here to do.”

In Bauer’s previous two campaigns, the women’s tennis team would not have dreamt of making it to NCAA Regionals.

“I knew that the program tradition here was not good,” Bauer said. “People talk about rebuilding. It was building because there wasn’t anything here.”

Bauer accepted the head coaching position in January of 2000, weeks before the Spartans first match of the spring without any fall preparation with his new team.

In his second season, he brought in Lay in January. Again, right before the season started. This season marked Bauer’s first full recruiting class, and what he considers his first full season.

This season he has instituted an intense practice atmosphere and a can-do attitude in his players.

“He doesn’t let us get away with anything,” freshman Keri Thompson said. “If we do something wrong he lets us know right away. He’s hard on us, but we know it’ll make us better in the long run.”

If the season did end Thursday, the Spartans seem to have a promising future for the next few years. Senior Amanda McGinnis will be the only player on the roster to depart. MSU has all of their starters returning for competition next year. The list includes eight freshmen that will return in the fall as sophomores.

“I feel really optimistic,” Vastag said. “We’ll have a little bit more of a reputation and we’ll continue to build on the expectations and pick up where we left off this season.”

While his players are looking forward to next year, Bauer not only has plans for last year’s recruiting class, but recruiting classes of the future, too.

“I’ve planned up to eight years in advance here,” Bauer said.

“With the recruiting class we have here, I’d like to see them in the top 30 in the country. And I’d like to be in contention for the Big Ten title. By their senior year I would like to see that happen.

“We have the horses here, now it’s time.”

Bauer’s ambitious plans don’t end with Big Ten title aspirations, he someday wants to have his northern school become a national champion.

“I coach for that everyday,” Bauer said. “I think there are some challenges being a northern school trying to win a tennis championship, but if you’re not in the business to win a national title, then you shouldn’t be coaching.”