Michigan State Spartans men’s and women’s tennis set for Big Ten Tournament this week

The Michigan State Spartans men’s and women’s tennis teams are set to compete in their respective Big Ten Tournaments this week. The women received the No. 13 seed and will face Iowa tomorrow, Wednesday, April 27 at 3 p.m. EDT while the men earned the No. 9 seed and will take on No. 8 Purdue on Thursday, April 28 at noon EDT. All tournament coverage is available to stream on the B1G+ platform (subscription required).

Women’s Team

Michigan State finished the regular season this past Sunday with a 1-10 record in league play and a 9-13 record overall. The Spartans enter the matchup against tournament host Iowa in Iowa City after having lost both matches this past weekend. Saturday saw a 4-0 loss to No. 39 Northwestern for the Spartans, and Sunday was a 4-1 loss on senior day to No. 47 Illinois.

Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes enter coming off a 4-0 loss at No. 52 Nebraska on Saturday, ending Iowa’s season at 2-9 in league play and 6-16 overall. However, the Hawkeyes defeated the Spartans in the lone regular season matchup in East Lansing on April 14, winning 4-1. The lone victory came in singles when Mary Lewis defeated Marisa Schmidt 6-4 and 6-3 on the top court.

Iowa holds the edge in the all-time series history with a 32-17 advantage. Wednesday’s matchup will mark the 50th meeting between the two league foes. Overall, Michigan State is 2-4 in the Big Ten Tournament under current head coach Kim Bruno.

The winner of the Michigan State-Iowa showdown will face off against No. 5 seed Illinois on Thursday, April 28 at 7 p.m. EDT.

Men’s Team

Michigan State closed out the regular season this past Saturday, April 23 in a 6-1 loss to No. 8 ranked Michigan. The loss sent MSU to 14-13 overall and 1-8 in Big Ten play. Earning the No. 9 seed (out of 10), the Spartans will face off against the No. 8 seeded Boilermakers who are coming off a 4-1 loss to Illinois on Sunday, April 24, leaving Purdue at 9-14 overall and 2-7 in the Big Ten. The men’s tournament will be hosted by Wisconsin in Madison.

In the lone regular season matchup between the two programs, Purdue defeated MSU in East Lansing 5-2 on April 10. The winner of Thursday’s matchup will go on to face No. 1 overall seed Ohio State on Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

All 10 men’s tennis programs make the Big Ten Tournament. In last year’s tournament, the Michigan State men picked up the first Big Ten Tournament win for the program since 2014 when the Spartans defeated Iowa 4-2 in the first round before falling to Ohio State 4-0 in the quarterfinals.