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MSU women's tennis earns dramatic 4-3 senior day victory over Penn State

April 16, 2023
<p>Spartan Women's Tennis defeated Penn State on senior night 4-3 on April 16, 2023.</p>

Spartan Women's Tennis defeated Penn State on senior night 4-3 on April 16, 2023.

Photo by Henry Szymecko | The State News

In a nail-biting match decided by the final singles game, Michigan State women’s tennis wrapped up its regular season with a victory on senior day, defeating Penn State 4-3.

The Spartans jumped out to a strong start with graduate student Nicole Conard and freshman Issey Purser dominating in the No. 2 doubles matchup to take down Penn State juniors Karly Friedland and Alexandra Nielsen 6-0.

Senior Dagmar Zdrubecka and freshman Juliette Nask gave the most notable performance of the doubles competitions, rallying back from a 4-0 deficit to defeat the Nittany Lions’ graduate student Ioana Gheorghita and junior Alina Lebedeva 7-5. The decision gave MSU the first point of the afternoon.

“I'm so proud of them, especially on senior day, it just feels good and (Zdrubecka) got to come out and get a huge win for us,” Head women’s tennis  coach Kim Bruno said. “We've been chasing this for a little while now, so it feels good.” 

After dropping the first four sets, junior Ayshe Can and sophomore Liisa Vehvilainen picked up a win to make it 4-1 against PSU’s junior Sofiya Chekhlystova and graduate student Carla Girbau. Despite some impressive plays and strategic hits, the pair failed to complete the comeback and fell 6-2.

In between doubles and singles matchups, Spartan seniors Tia Mukherjee, Monique Karoub and Zdrubecka were honored for their time with the program

Nask earned the first singles victory for the Spartans on court five, picking up 6-0 and 6-2 set wins over Friedland.

The Nittany Lions notched their first singles point when freshman Olivia Dorner defeated Spartan freshman Marley Lambert with two 6-3 wins in the No. 4 singles matchup.  

Penn State recorded another singles point when Chekhlystova took down Can in two sets. The opponents were neck and neck during the first set, but Chekhlystova squeaked out a 7-6 victory. Can’s performance in set two was not as strong as the first, allowing Chekhlystova to come away with a 6-3 win. 

Purser fell 6-2 in her first set with Gheorghita, but bounced back with a 6-4 win to force set three. However, Purser’s effort wasn’t enough to clinch another point, dropping the third set 6-4. 

The match was ultimatley decided between Vehvilainen and Penn State sophomore Yvonne Zuffova, as the last pair to finish competition. Vehvilainen dropped the first set 7-6, but responded with a 6-3 decision, forcing a third set

“It was a roller coaster match for sure,” Vehvilainen said. “The first set I was up 5-1 and it kind of seemed like, ‘I'm gonna win the first set pretty comfortably,’ but then I guess she started playing better, and maybe I got a little bit nervous.” 

With only one game left to decide the victor, the crowd inside the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility gathered around court two to watch Vehvilainen and Zuffova duke it out.

Vehvilainen and Zuffova kept it close in a gritty, hard-fought effort, passing the lead back and forth until it was tied 3-3. As the game dragged on, both sophomores were visibly exhausted

“It was challenging, but I kind of got myself up in the second set pretty quickly and I think that eventually helped me, the short lead that I had,” Vehvilainen said. “In the third set, both of my coaches were telling me, and also my teammates, that my opponent seemed very, very tired. … I just thought … ‘If my tennis is not better than hers, I'm for sure physically stronger.’ So, I just tried to keep that in mind and push through everything.” 

The final point was awarded to MSU when Zuffova double faulted, causing Vehvilainen to collapse on the ground with relief as her teammates rushed over to celebrate with her. Vehvilainen escaped with a 6-3 win and the Spartans walked away with their second Big Ten victory of the season

Bruno said her team’s overall record does not reflect the effort they have put in this season

“I think we're better than a lot of our results have showed,” Bruno said. “I think we're a really good team and we have a lot of new people in our lineup that are just getting better and better, and that's the most important thing. So, I think we have a good group of women that are determined to keep getting better, and that's what we need here.” 

The Spartans finish the regular season 9-13 overall and 2-9 in Big Ten play. They now have just over a week to prepare for the Big Ten Tournament on April 26-30 in West Lafayette.

“We're definitely at a place where we need to be heading into the tournament,” Bruno said. “I think these girls just keep sticking with it, keep believing – which they've been doing – and keep fighting. That's all you can ask. … Win or lose, that's what this group of girls have done and that's what we're most proud of.” 

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