CHICAGO, Ill. – 19th-ranked Men’s Tennis kicks off the postseason Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament as the three seed against sixth seeded and national No. 68 Indiana with first serve at 5 p.m. ET.
Live Results | Full Bracket | TV: B1G+
In a season of program firsts, the Michigan State will seek its first Big Ten Tournament title and second ever conference championship, first since 1967. The Spartans have won each of their last three first round matches but have not made it out of the second round since the tournament switched to the single-elimination format in 1999.
The match will be streamed on B1G+ and the winner will advance to the semifinals on Saturday to play the winner of No. 2 seed Michigan vs. No. 7 Northwestern at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Scouting No. 68 Indiana
Indiana finished the regular season 16-10 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten. In the ITA collegiate tennis rankings, the Hoosiers are represented by sophomore Sam Landau in singles, slotted at No. 100 nationally. In doubles, seniors Michael Andre and Ilya Tiraspolsky combine to make the 67th-ranked pairing.
Series History vs. Indiana
The Hoosiers hold a 63-25 all-time series lead over the Spartans. Michigan State has however come out on top in the previous three meetings between the two sides, including a 7-0 senior day sweep in East Lansing just 18 days ago on April 7.
The Hoosiers were without Landau, their top-rated player, for that match however, while the Spartans sat their own top singles player, Baris. The two are likely to meet on main court Friday.
Four Spartans Earn Postseason Honors, Baris Named B1G Player of the Year
Four Michigan State Men’s Tennis student-athletes received Big Ten postseason awards Thursday, headlined by conference first-teamers sophomore Ozan Baris, the Big Ten Player of the Year and Aristotelis Thanos, the B1G Freshman of the Year.
Graduate student Ronald Hohmann III earned second-team honors while senior Reed Crocker merited the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Baris, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season, becomes the first Spartan to be named Player of the Year since the award’s inception in 1987. The Okemos, Mich., native is ranked ninth in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and as high as fourth, the highest rating of any Big Ten player. He owns a 27-6…
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