EAST LANSING, Mich. – Following a three-match homestand, the Michigan State women's tennis team are back on the road this weekend as its slated to take on Minnesota on Friday, April 12 at 4:30 p.m. ET. Then the Spartans will also travel to Wisconsin on Sunday, April 14, first serve is slated for 1 p.m. ET.
KNOW THE FOE: MINNESOTA
Minnesota enters the weekend with a 10-9 overall record with a 3-4 B1G record. In their last outing, the Gophers were shutout in a pair of duals to two nationally ranked B1G foes last weekend, falling to No. 32-ranked Illinois, 4-0, and No. 37-ranked Northwestern, 7-0. Minnesota has defeated two ITA ranked opponents this season with victories over No. 48-ranked Purdue, 4-1, and No. 62-ranked Iowa, 4-1.
It will be the 45th all-time meeting between the Spartans and the Gophers with two of the three last meetings going in the favor of MSU. Minnesota leads the all-time series 29-15.
KNOW THE FOE: WISCONSIN
Wisconsin enters the week with a 15-3 overall record and is the No. 25-ranked team in the latest ITA rankings. The Badgers are 6-1 in conference play, they suffered their first conference lost last weekend in a controversial fashion. Originally beating No. 37-ranked Northwestern, 4-3, but a lineup protest filed by Northwestern regarding the No. 1 and No. 2 singles position. The committee decided the No. 2 singles point is awarded to the Wildcats, giving them the 4-3 victory over Wisconsin.
The Badgers have one ITA ranked singles competitor in No. 78 Maria Sholokhova who leads the team in single dual victories with a 15-3 record. Along with Sholokhova, three other players amassed 10 or more single wins this dual season; Taylor Cataldi is second on the team with a 13-3 record; Ariel Johnson follows with a 11-2 record and Xinyu Cai rounds out the group with a 10-2 record. On the doubles court for Wisconsin, the winningest group has been the pairing of Caltaldi and Rosie Gross-Garcia whit an 8-1 record and are a perfect 6-0 on the No. 3 court.
The Badgers own the all-time head-to-head series record, 14-46. Despite the historic record, the last 10 meetings been back-and-forth between the two programs with Wisconsin winning six matches to the Spartans four.
B1G PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Freshman No. 92-ranked Ria Bhakta became the first Spartan since 2019 to be named the Big Ten Women's Tennis Player of the Week, as announced by the conference on Wednesday, following her top 20 victory against Michigan's No. 19-ranked Julia Fliegner last Saturday. The Delray Beach, Florida, native Bhakta would pull off a come from behind victory over Fliegner for the biggest victory of her young career. Bhakta worked her way back after dropping the first set, 4-6, to rattle off two-straight set victories (6-4, 1-0 [11-9]) in a true back-and-forth matchup.
Bhakta has been Michigan State's top performer on the singles court garnishing an impressive 10-2 overall record in the dual season, 2-1 in B1G duals and 8-2 in her last 10 complete matches.
A NEW FACE IN THE RANKINGS
Following her impressive victory last weekend, Bhakta has earned national recognition with her first collegiate ranking, entering at No. 92 in the latest ITA singles ranking.
For the eighth week in a row, the Green and White tandem of senior Ayshe Can and graduate student Nicole Conard appeared in the ITA doubles ranking. The doubles stock continues to rise as they jumped up three spots this week to No. 34.
Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.
KNOW THE FOE: MINNESOTA
Minnesota enters the weekend with a 10-9 overall record with a 3-4 B1G record. In their last outing, the Gophers were shutout in a pair of duals to two nationally ranked B1G foes last weekend, falling to No. 32-ranked Illinois, 4-0, and No. 37-ranked Northwestern, 7-0. Minnesota has defeated two ITA ranked opponents this season with victories over No. 48-ranked Purdue, 4-1, and No. 62-ranked Iowa, 4-1.
It will be the 45th all-time meeting between the Spartans and the Gophers with two of the three last meetings going in the favor of MSU. Minnesota leads the all-time series 29-15.
KNOW THE FOE: WISCONSIN
Wisconsin enters the week with a 15-3 overall record and is the No. 25-ranked team in the latest ITA rankings. The Badgers are 6-1 in conference play, they suffered their first conference lost last weekend in a controversial fashion. Originally beating No. 37-ranked Northwestern, 4-3, but a lineup protest filed by Northwestern regarding the No. 1 and No. 2 singles position. The committee decided the No. 2 singles point is awarded to the Wildcats, giving them the 4-3 victory over Wisconsin.
The Badgers have one ITA ranked singles competitor in No. 78 Maria Sholokhova who leads the team in single dual victories with a 15-3 record. Along with Sholokhova, three other players amassed 10 or more single wins this dual season; Taylor Cataldi is second on the team with a 13-3 record; Ariel Johnson follows with a 11-2 record and Xinyu Cai rounds out the group with a 10-2 record. On the doubles court for Wisconsin, the winningest group has been the pairing of Caltaldi and Rosie Gross-Garcia whit an 8-1 record and are a perfect 6-0 on the No. 3 court.
The Badgers own the all-time head-to-head series record, 14-46. Despite the historic record, the last 10 meetings been back-and-forth between the two programs with Wisconsin winning six matches to the Spartans four.
B1G PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Freshman No. 92-ranked Ria Bhakta became the first Spartan since 2019 to be named the Big Ten Women's Tennis Player of the Week, as announced by the conference on Wednesday, following her top 20 victory against Michigan's No. 19-ranked Julia Fliegner last Saturday. The Delray Beach, Florida, native Bhakta would pull off a come from behind victory over Fliegner for the biggest victory of her young career. Bhakta worked her way back after dropping the first set, 4-6, to rattle off two-straight set victories (6-4, 1-0 [11-9]) in a true back-and-forth matchup.
Bhakta has been Michigan State's top performer on the singles court garnishing an impressive 10-2 overall record in the dual season, 2-1 in B1G duals and 8-2 in her last 10 complete matches.
A NEW FACE IN THE RANKINGS
Following her impressive victory last weekend, Bhakta has earned national recognition with her first collegiate ranking, entering at No. 92 in the latest ITA singles ranking.
For the eighth week in a row, the Green and White tandem of senior Ayshe Can and graduate student Nicole Conard appeared in the ITA doubles ranking. The doubles stock continues to rise as they jumped up three spots this week to No. 34.
Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.
