The match began with MSU sophomore Liisa Vehvilainen and junior Ayshe Can picking up where they left off in doubles from Friday, beating their opponent 6-2. However, the Red Hawks won the next two matches to clinch the doubles point. Miami sophomores Emilia Valentinsson and Sara Zalukar teamed up to take down MSU’s doubles tandem of graduate student Nicole Conard and freshman Marley Lambert 6-4 in a close contest. 

The third doubles match was less competitive. MSU freshman Issey Purser and senior Dagmar Zdrubecka couldn’t get anything going against Miami senior Jutte Van Hansewyck and sophomore Nishitha Saravanan, losing by a score of 6-0. The Spartans trailed the Red Hawks 1-0 following doubles play.

For the Spartans to emerge victorious, four of six singles matches needed to end in their favor. MSU freshman Juliette Nask set the tone, controlling her match with 6-3 and 6-1 wins. Fresh off of a tight loss Friday, Nask said her triumph Sunday morning was a byproduct of re-watching the match and making adjustments.

“Coach and I sat down and re-watched my match from Friday. There were just little tweaks that I needed to figure out,” Nask said. “I took that advice, put it into this match.”

Conard was able to bounce back from the doubles loss to best Van Hansewyck in two sets, winning 6-4 and 6-2.  

Despite holding a 3-1 lead in two consecutive sets, Purser couldn’t close out the win versus Zalukar, falling short 6-4 in both. Lambert also fought endlessly in a back-and-forth battle with Saravanan, but finished on the short end of 7-5 and 6-4 contests.

Trailing 3-2 with two matches yet to finish, the Spartans needed Vehvilainen and Can to step up significantly.

They did just that, as Vehvilainen came away with wins of 6-2 and 6-3, while Can clinched the MSU victory with an intense, crowd-igniting win in three sets. The third set was decided by a tiebreaker that ended 7-4 in Can’s favor. 

Game 2

The Spartans were able to bounce back in the second half of the doubleheader and earn the doubles point over Bowling Green. 

Seniors Monique Karoub and Tia Mukherjee set the tone early, defeating freshmen Diana Ivanikhina and Leticia Fonseca 6-2. The Spartan duo didn’t look back after prevailing in professional fashion.

The Falcons responded shortly after with their junior duo of Hannah Neuman and Lucy Furness coming out on top in a comeback victory over freshman Makenna Martinez and sophomore Charlotte Gisclon, 6-3.

In winner take all fashion, all eyes turned to witness a competitive fight between MSU’s junior Ayshe Can and sophomore Liisa Vehvilainen and the Falcons’ sophomore Maru Poppe and senior Eloise Saratay to decide the doubles point. The Spartans ultimately capitalized on mistakes and gave Michigan State an early lead in the match. 

MSU continued to roll in the singles, as Tia Mukherjee defeated Diana Ivanikhina 6-2 and 6-0 in dominating fashion. Mukherjee noted how her doubles performance with Monique Karoub helped spark her statement performance into singles.

“I feel like we played well together, and then kind of carried that momentum onto singles, and yeah that definitely is a confidence booster being able to get the win,” said Mukherjee.

Juliette Nask continued the Spartans' hot streak defeating Hannah Neuman 6-2 and 6-0 as well.

The Spartans kept their foot on the gas and continued to control the afternoon. Nicole Conard prevailed over Bowling Green’s Maru Poppe with 6-3 and 6-2 victories in two sets.

Charlotte Gliscon joined the trend as she picked up statement wins over Leticia Fonseca, 6-1, and 6-0.

The last two singles matches were more competitive, though this didn’t affect Vehvilainen. She was able to grind out a victory against Saraty in two sets, winning 6-4 and 6-1. 

Vehvilainen explained that her singles match up helped get her in a rhythm as she closed in on a win.

“I think it definitely boosted my confidence, I mean it is always great to get the win whatever the score is, and that always contributes to the confidence," Vehvilainen said. 

Lambert was a bright spot for MSU in the singles, as she faced one of the Falcon’s best in Lucy Furness. Lambert took the early lead in the first set 7-5, dropped the second 6-4, but ultimately pushed back and won the third set 11-9. Her emotion and passion was visibly noticeable. 

The Spartans took five out of the six singles matchups in two sets. It was safe to say Head Women's Tennis Coach Kim Bruno was encouraged with her girls’ performance in the doubleheader.

“Winning isn’t a habit for us yet, I don’t think," Bruno said. "We still have a couple holes here and there that we’re working through, just having such a young team. But man, they stepped up and got the job done. At the end of the day, that’s what matters the most.”

Bruno also highlighted an individual performance that helped the Spartans rally over a three game stretch in the past couple days. 

“Throughout the whole weekend, Liisa hands down,” Bruno said. “She went undefeated, she’s tough as nails, she runs every ball down, and is just hard to beat.”

The Spartans two wins today improves them to 3-2 on the year. They are back in action Feb. 12th at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center against Marquette at 10 a.m.