NCAA Mens Tennis

Men’s Tennis Hosts No. 3 Ohio State, Penn State for First Outdoor Home Matches

Men's Tennis Hosts No. 3 Ohio State, Penn State for First Outdoor Home Matches


EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men’s tennis returns home this weekend to host a pair of Big Ten opponents. The Spartans (7-10, 0-3 B1G) play third-ranked Ohio State (21-2, 4-0 B1G) on Friday, April 7 at 4 p.m. before taking on Penn State (13-8, 0-4 B1G) on Sunday, April 9 at noon. Both matches will be held at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Center. 

Live scoring will be available on MSUSpartans.com. Streaming will not be available. 

The 67th-ranked Spartans enter the weekend after going 1-1 last week, falling to then- No. 5 Michigan, 6-1, on March 30 before securing a 5-2 road win at then-No. 69 Virginia Tech on April 1. After falling in a hard-fought battle with the Wolverines that saw four singles matches go into three sets, the Spartans bounced back with an impressive singles showing to earn their first road win of the season in Blacksburg. 

MSU moved up eight spots in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings this week to No. 67. Freshman Ozan Baris climbed to No. 40 in the ITA singles rankings, while Baris and sophomore Ozan Baris made a significant jump to No. 6 in the doubles rankings, earning the highest-ever ranking for a doubles team in program history. 

Baris and Sheldon picked up their sixth win over a ranked doubles team this season at Virginia Tech, defeating 18th-ranked Jordan Chrysostom and Ryan Fishback, 6-4. Freshman David Saye is on a two-match winning streak, earning MSU’s lone point in the Michigan dual and winning his match at No. 6 singles at Virginia Tech. 

Ohio State enters Friday’s match on a six-match winning streak, most recently topping Nebraska (7-0) and Wisconsin (6-1) last week. The highest-ranked team in the league, the Buckeyes boast an impressive six ranked singles players and three ranked doubles teams. Penn State will play Michigan on Friday before arriving in East Lansing Sunday. The Nittany Lions have played five-straight ranked opponents, most recently falling to Wisconsin (5-2) and Nebraska (5-1) at home. 

Up next, MSU travels to Indiana to take on Purdue on Friday, April 14 at 3 p.m. before facing Indiana on Sunday, April 16 at noon.

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