EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men’s tennis hosts a pair of top-30 ranked teams this weekend for its final regular season matches of the dual season, taking on No. 25 Illinois on Friday, April 21 at 4 p.m. before hosting No. 26 Northwestern for Senior Day on Sunday, April 23 at noon.
Friday’s match will take place at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Center, while Sunday’s match will be indoors at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center. Live scoring for both matches and streaming for Sunday’s match will be available on MSUSpartans.com.
The 66th-ranked Spartans enter the weekend at 10-11 (3-4 B1G) after an undefeated weekend in Indiana last week, knocking off Purdue, 5-2, on April 14 before earning a 4-3 victory at Indiana on April 16. The Spartans are riding their longest win streak of the season at three matches, dating back to a 4-1 win against Penn State on April 9.
MSU climbed in all three Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings this week, moving from 69th to 66th in the team rankings, while freshman Ozan Baris rose to No. 41 in the singles rankings and No. 6 in the doubles rankings alongside partner Max Sheldon. Baris is also on a three-match winning streak at both No. 1 doubles and singles and was named Co-Big Ten Athlete of the Week with Illinois’ Karlis Ozolins on April 19, who comes to East Lansing on Friday.
Both Illinois (17-9, 5-2) and Northwestern (18-7, 6-1) sit among the leaders in the league this season. The Illini won both of their matches last week, defeating Wisconsin and Nebraska at home, while the Wildcats are on an eight-match winning streak, most recently securing wins over Nebraska, Wisconsin and Illinois State.
Sunday’s match will serve as the Spartans’ Senior Day, where seniors Anthony Pero and Kazuki Matsuno will be recognized between doubles and singles.
The Big Ten Tournament is scheduled for April 27 through April 30 in Bloomington, Indiana.
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