EAST LANSING, Mich.-- The Maryland women's tennis team fell against Michigan State 4-3 on Saturday in the first match of the 2021 spring season.

""Tough one for us today. We played well at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to grab the doubles point and then couldn't hold that momentum in singles. Great wins from Ayana and Eva. Minorka was put in a tough spot as the deciding match her first college match and lost a close one but the future is so bright for her. She'll grow from today and only get better," head coach Katie Dougherty said. 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Maryland won the doubles point at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots
• Freshman Minorka Miranda and sophomore Ebony Sampson made their Terrapin debuts 

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• DOUBLES
  • No. 1: No. 89 Ayana Akli and Miranda defeated Mary Lewis and Maja Pietrowicz 6-2 
  • No. 2: Eva Alexandorva and Adela Josefova defeated Tia Makherjee and Nicole Stephens 6-3
  • No. 3: Zoe Kulkarni and Sampson fell to Lauren Lemonds and Ayshe Can, 0-6
• SINGLES
  • No. 1: Akli defeated Lewis in a quick two sets, 6-6, 6-2
  • No. 2: Alexandrova battled hard against Samantha Memijie, eventually proving victorious after multiple ties within each set 7-5, 6-3
  • No. 3: Miranda made her singles debut against Lemonds, ultimately falling in two challenging sets 6-7, 4-6 
  • No.4: Josefova fell in two sets 0-6, 1-6
  • No. 5: Kulkarni was defeated by Stephens 3-6, 0-6
  • No. 6: Sampson fell to Can 1-6, 3-6

NEXT UP:
The Terps will continue their stay in Michigan, facing University of Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 14 at noon.