EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men’s tennis fell to No. 25 Illinois, 6-1, in its penultimate regular season match on Friday in East Lansing.
The Spartans dropped to 10-12 (3-5 B1G), while the Illini moved to 18-9 (6-2).
The doubles point came down to a tightly-contested match on court two after junior Graydon Lair and sophomore Max Sheldon defeated Illinois’ Gabrielius Guzauskas and Kenta Miyoshi, 6-3, on court three, and freshman Ozan Baris and fifth-year senior Anthony Pero fell to 36th-ranked Hunter Heck and Karlis Ozolins, 6-4. Playing 55th-ranked Mathis Debru Oliver Okonkwo from Illinois, junior Reed Crocker and senior Kazuki Matsuno battled in a back-and-forth super tiebreak, eventually falling 7-6(9).
After Illinois captured the doubles point, Spartan freshman David Saye tied up the match with a dominant 6-3, 6-1 victory over Illinois’ Nick Meister on court six. The win marked Saye’s fifth victory in his last seven matches.
The Spartans were unable to match the Illini, dropping its following five singles matches. Pero and Baris’ matches were the final two to finish, both forcing a third set. Pero dropped his match to Okonkwo, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, and Baris was topped by 48th-ranked Ozolins, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(2).
MSU wraps up the regular season on Sunday, April 23, hosting Northwestern at noon at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center. Seniors Anthony Pero and Kazuki Matsuno will be recognized between doubles and singles.
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