Michigan State women’s tennis made a strong first impression at its new home.
The Spartans hosted the Spartan Invite, presented by Auto-Owners Insurance, over the weekend at Spartan Tennis, MSU Athletics’ new outdoor courts and center, and the group piled up 14 match wins across the three-day event. Six of MSU’s nine players saw action, with all six earning at least one victory in singles or doubles as the Spartans opened competition at the site known as “The Joan.”
Freshman Ariane Lesterhuis was the biggest winner of the weekend, going 3-0 in singles. Freshman Mengqiao Lu finished 2-1, while juniors Nina Plihal and Kinsey Crawford, along with freshman Amiya Bowles, each went 1-2 in singles. In doubles, Plihal and freshman Nora Syrtveit were perfect at 3-0, Lu and Bowles went 2-0, and Lesterhuis and Crawford finished 1-2.
“It was awesome, the girls definitely wanted to play down there, they waited all day to do it,” MSU head coach Kim Bruno said of the six-court setup at Spartan Tennis. “We had people coming in all weekend, stopping in to cheer us on and enjoy the great weather, we had a good amount of fans get loud.
It was fun, a lot of fun. We're lucky.”
Lesterhuis called the weekend “extremely awesome” and said the home atmosphere made the experience even better.
“I thought it was absolutely incredible that I had the opportunity to go here and I could go 3-0. It was amazing to have a great support system with my team and my coaches coaching me and helping me through it all. It was great to have all the fans and community stopping by to cheer us on.”
For Lesterhuis, one of five newcomers making first home appearances in Green and White, the setting stood out just as much as the results.
“It was better than I expected I would say. Overall, it's an amazing atmosphere to have a team behind you, especially in such an individual sport,” Lesterhuis said.
Bruno said the tournament gave her plenty to work with as the Spartans continue through the fall.
“It went great this weekend,” Bruno said. “I learned a lot of information, there's a lot of new players, I saw a lot of positives and bright spots.
I loved the way they competed until the end no matter what. Did we execute our game plans all the time?
No, but I think it was an awesome start. We won a lot and we learned a lot as well, so we just need to be smart moving forward these next couple of weeks.”
MSU’s fall run continues next weekend at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships in Champaign, Illinois, from Oct. 8-12.
Some Spartans will then head to the ITA Sectional Championships, Nov. 5-8 in Fort Worth, Texas, while those not competing there will play in MSU’s second home event of the fall, the Michigan State Classic, presented by Auto-Owners Insurance, on Friday-Sunday, Nov. 6-9.
That tournament will serve as the final weekend of preparation and qualification for the NCAA Individual Championships, set for Nov. 17-22. The Spartans’ spring dual schedule will be announced later.
MSU’s results at the Spartan Invite included wins by Lu over Maria Batinic of EMU, 6-4, 6-1, Plihal over Frida Weijerman of WMU, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, Bowles over Yasemin Pehlivan of DePaul, 6-2, 6-4, and Lesterhuis over Pehal Kharadkar of EMU, 7-6 (7-0), 6-1, on Friday. Lesterhuis added another win Saturday, topping Ella Fitcher of WMU, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Crawford beat Kate Thorne of Marquette, 6-2, 6-2. On Sunday, Lesterhuis finished her unbeaten singles weekend by defeating Clara Nilsson of DePaul, 7-5, 6-2.
In doubles, Plihal and Syrtveit beat Lara Diaz Zayas and Kseniia Saenko of EMU, 8-3, on Friday, while Lu and Bowles defeated Sasha Sakura Stula and Yasemin Pehlivan of DePaul, 8-4. The pairings kept rolling Saturday, with Plihal and Syrtveit defeating Sienna Osborne and Mahika Khanna of WMU, 8-3, and later Ella Fitcher and Ayana Yaguchi of WMU, 8-1. Lu and Bowles also beat Elizabeth Stuckslager and Emmerson White of Marquette, 8-6, and Lesterhuis and Crawford topped Aiyana Abbott and Kate Thorne of Marquette, 8-5.
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