Lansing Sun

After tripping in the season opener, the Michigan State University Spartans women’s tennis team has run off five straight victories, most recently holding Eastern Michigan to just one match win.

"We went out there and got the job done, and that is what is most important. It is not easy to win,” MSU head coach Kim Bruno said in a report on msuspartans.com. “No matter who your opponent is, you can't underestimate who you are playing,”

The 5-1 record is the best start to the season since 2016-17, when the team started 6-1, the school website said.

The Spartans swept all three doubles matches to get the doubles point. That included a new pairing as Mary Lewis and Tia Mukherjee paired up for a 6-4 win against Luisa Pelayo and Grace Whitney. 

Michigan State followed that up with dominant singles play. Mukherjee finished first, with a 6-3, 6-0 defeat of Emma-Lou Pommiers. The only match to go three sets — and a long three sets at that — belonged to Lauren Lemonds, who defeated Sabina Birchackova  4-6, 6-3, 11-9, the report said.

"You have to be up for every single match, and the girls went out there and did what they were supposed to do.” Bruno said in the article. “It was a good team effort. I was really happy that Tia (Mukherjee) was able to play today. She fought through some nerves and was able to get it done."