IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa women’s tennis team, ranked No. 60 nationally, defeated Michigan State in its conference home opener on Friday, 4-1, at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreational Complex.
Iowa (6-6, 1-1) dropped the doubles point after losses on courts two and three. On court two, Daianne Hayashida/Vipasha Mehra fell to Marley Lambert/Dagmar Zdrubecka (6-2). Barbora Pokorna/Pia Kranholdt trailed 6-5 in their match against Issey Purser/Nicole Conard, and closely lost the final point (7-5). At No. 1, Marisa Schmidt/Samantha Mannix quickly defeated Liisa Vhevilainen/Ayshe Can (6-3).
The Hawkeyes closed out the night with straight-set singles wins over Michigan State (7-6, 0-2) on courts one, two, five, and six. One court one, Schmidt defeated Vhevilainen (6-3, 6-4). Mannix was the first to get it done on court two, bouncing Can (6-2, 6-3). On court five, Pokorna pushed her first set to win 7-5, then finished it off in the second set, winning 6-1 against Purser.
Kranholdt finished the night on court six topping Gisclon. After bringing the match to a 6-6 tie in the first set, she swept the tiebreaker, 7-0, to take the set (7-6). Kranholdt wrapped it up in set two, winning 6-3. Hayashida and Mehra both took their matches to a third set, but their matches were abandoned after the Hawkeyes clinched the match.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH SASHA SCHMID
“I am proud of the team. That was a hard-fought conference match. I think every match in the conference is going to be really competitive. It was great to be able to come back after losing the doubles point and be resilient. I thought that was the key and we found a way to get all of the first sets in singles and even so, you still have to fight to close out those second sets. Hopefully, we can build upon a match like today. Our next three matches are at home, and we would love for confidence to build from one match to the next.”
UP NEXT
Iowa will stay home next week to play Nebraska. Action will start at noon (CT) on Saturday at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreational Complex. Admission is free to the public.
RESULT
#60 Iowa 4, Michigan State 1
SINGLES
1. Marisa Schmidt (UI) def. Liisa Vhevilainen (MSU): 6-3, 6-4
2. Samantha Mannix (UI) def. Ayshe Can (MSU): 6-2, 6-3
3. Daianne Hayashida (UI) vs. Marley Lambert (MSU): 6-2, 1-6, 5-5 unfinished
4. Vipasha Mehra (UI) vs. Juliette Nask (MSU) : 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 unfinished
5. Barbora Pokorna (UI) def. Issey Purser (MSU): 7-5, 6-1
6. Pia Kranholdt (UI) def. Charlotte Gisclon (MSU): 7-6, 6-3
DOUBLES
1. Schmidt/Mannix (UI) def. Vhevilainen/Can (MSU): 6-3
2. Lambert/Zdrubecka (MSU) def. Hayashida/Mehra (UI): 6-2
3. Purser/Conard (MSU) def. Pokorna/Kranholdt (UI): 7-5
Order of Finish: Singles (2,5,1,6); Doubles (2,1,3)