No. 18 Spartans to Start B1G Season with Pair of Home Matches

EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 18 Men’s Tennis will open Big Ten play at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center this weekend, hosting No. 53 Nebraska on Friday at 6 pm and Wisconsin on Sunday at noon.
 
Scouting No. 53 Nebraska
The Cornhuskers come to East Lansing with a 10-5 record on the season, 2-2 against ranked opponents. The Huskers’ only other top-25 opponent to date was national no. 24 Baylor who swept Nebraska 7-0 in Waco, Texas.
 
Nebraska’s lone ranked players are the doubles pairing of senior Nic Wiedenhorn and junior Anton Shepp, who are slotted just inside the ranked threshold at No. 80. Nebraska freshman Colson Wells hails from Okemos, Mich. and makes his return to the 517.
 
Series History vs. Nebraska
The winner of Friday afternoon’s affair will take the lead in the all-time series, with the two sides having split the 16 prior meeting 8-8. Nebraska is 4-3 against MSU in East Lansing. The Cornhuskers have taken the last two matchups between the two sides.
 
Scouting Wisconsin
Wisconsin holds a season record of 1-12 and has won just 22 of 90 team points played. The Badgers play at No. 43 Michigan on Friday prior to coming up the road to East Lansing for Sunday’s match.
 
The Badgers are represented in the ITA Rankings by senior Mihailo Popovic and sophomore Michael Minasyan who pair up to make the 72^nd-ranked doubles pairing.
 
Series History vs. Wisconsin
The Badgers hold a 37-44 all-time series lead over the Spartans, while MSU could even up the record between the two sides in East Lansing, which currently stands at 19-20. Michigan State will look to snap an eight-match losing streak against Wisconsin, last having come out on top on April 11, 2014.
 
Big Ten’s Best
Following the March 19 ITA National Rankings update, Michigan State sophomore Ozan Baris was slotted as the highest ranked singles and doubles player out of the Big Ten. The Okemos, Mich. native pairs with junior Max Sheldon to make the nation’s No. 3 ranking in doubles and is allotted 11^th in singles.
 
This is the second time Baris has sat atop the B1G, reaching as high as No. 4 nationally in singles and No. 1 in doubles with Sheldon following the pairs ITA Fall National Championship in November. Both rankings were all-time bests for a Spartan.
 
They’ve got Chemistry
In 16 matches second-year head coach Harry Jadun has lined up 15 different…