On court one, No. 88 sophomore Ellie Blackford and senior Matilde Morais struggled to find a rhythm on return as Xavier surged to a 4–0 lead and eventually closed out the set, 6–3. On court three, sophomore Amara Brahmbhatt and junior Hanna Tsitavets attempted a late comeback from a 4–1 deficit, but unforced errors and net mistakes proved costly as Xavier pulled away for a 6–2 win.

The brightest spot in doubles came on the second court, where the duo of sophomore Nina Plihal and senior Issey Purser built a 3–0 lead. Xavier clawed back, turning it into a tight battle that reached 5–5, but MSU couldn’t convert, and the doubles point ultimately went to Xavier.

Down 1–0 heading into singles, the Spartans flipped the script.

Blackford delivered the fastest and most dominant performance of the day, dismantling Xavier’s Rexroat 6–1, 6–1 with a level of aggression that felt straight out of an Aryna Sabalenka highlight reel. Her backhands and confident serving gave MSU its first point.

“It's ideal to be in and out of the court so quickly. I felt like I had an advantage of having played the girl that I played today before,” Blackford said. “I had an advantage of kind of having a game plan that I knew could work… I felt like I played a good level today in terms of serving and picked my level back up after doubles, because I didn’t feel like I played my best in the doubles.”

Blackford said the key was mentally resetting after the doubles loss.

“You kind of start from scratch, and try and just completely put it out of your mind that I even played a doubles match,” she said. “I just knew that I had to kind of have a fresh slate going into my singles match.”

Issey Purser sealed her match with a straight-set win over Siminski, closing it out 6–3, 7–5 after pulling ahead late in the second.

Nina Plihal followed after that with a clutch two-set win over Owen, taking the first set 7–5 before edging out a tense tiebreak in the second. After early dominance and a brief dip in momentum, Plihal found her footing again with strong net play and timely aces.

Matilde Morais fought through one of the most dramatic matches of the day against Flowers. The first set went to a tiebreak, where Morais fell 8–7 in a toe-to-toe battle. She responded by jumping to a 5–2 lead in the second set, keeping MSU in striking distance.

The most physically demanding match came on court one, where Amara Brahmbhatt faced Nugent in a back-and-forth three-set thriller. After dropping the first set 6–3, Brahmbhatt reset and dominated the second 6–2 with powerful down-the-line forehands. The third set turned into a “slice battle,” with both players visibly tired.

“Mentally it’s tough, like being up and then going down and then being down,” Brahmbhatt said. “But she was feeling the same thing, so for me, it wasn’t not a good deal.”

Despite net errors creeping in late, Brahmbhatt’s performance epitomized MSU’s resilience, despite the loss.

“I usually just refresh for the second set and just clear my mind and start over again,” she said. “I was tired. It was a long time… I thought I played well.”

Hanna Tsitavets battled DeFord in a three-set match, dropping the first set 6–2 before rebounding by the same score in the second to force a decider. Despite Tsitavets taking control late, the Spartans clinched the final point of the match with a 6–2 win in the third set.

Michigan State claimed four singles victories to Xavier’s two, overcoming the early doubles deficit to secure a 4–2 overall win.

For Blackford, the focus now shifts forward.

“This is great — always great to win,” she said. “But we know that we have another two matches on Sunday. So, we can’t get hung up on this win for too long because we know that we have to do it again another two times.”