Lansing Sun

Michigan State University's women's tennis team began their second consecutive weekend of hosting a tournament with notable performances during the opening day of the Spartan Invite at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center. The event started with singles matches featuring four Spartans, each securing victories and advancing to the next round.

Senior Liisa Vehviläinen achieved a win against Northwestern's Jennifer Riester, finishing 6-4, 6-1. Junior Issey Purser defeated Prerna Vichare from Eastern Michigan with scores of 6-3, 6-1. Freshman Ellie Blackford overcame Iowa's Barbora Pokorna 6-4, 6-2, while fellow freshman Amara Brahmbhatt won against Nikita Vishwase from Iowa in a match that ended 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

In another series of matches, redshirt sophomores Oriana Parkins-Godwin and Natalie Stasny faced competitors from Butler and DePaul. Parkins-Godwin dominated Norah Balthazor from Butler, winning 6-4, 6-1. Stasny staged a comeback after losing her first set to Eva Goncharov of DePaul. She eventually secured victory by winning the last two sets, ending the match at 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Junior Sarah Fazlagic played her first match of the season against Isabella Gibson from DePaul but was unable to secure a win.

The afternoon saw doubles matches with four Michigan State pairs competing. The duo of Parkins-Godwin/Purser emerged victorious against DePaul's Nobbs/Goncharov with a scoreline of 6-2. However, Fazlagic paired with freshman Olivia Kutlova for her Spartan debut fell to Alvarez/Gibson from DePaul by a score of 2-6.

Brahmbhatt/Stasny secured a hard-fought win over their Eastern Michigan opponents with a scoreline of 7-5. Lastly, Blackford/Vehvilainen recorded another win for Michigan State by defeating Metcalf/Arington from Butler with scores of 6-2.

The Spartans will continue their participation in the Spartan Invite on Saturday at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center. The schedule includes two rounds of doubles play starting at 9 a.m., followed by singles matches beginning around 1 p.m. Fans can keep up with updates through Spartan Invite Tournament Central.