EAST LANSING, Mich. — The No. 75 Michigan State men’s tennis team fought until the end, ultimately capitulating to the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center 6-1 on Thursday night.
The loss moves the Spartans to 6-10 (0-3 Big Ten) on the season while the Wolverines jump to 16-2 (3-0 Big Ten).
The Spartans started the dual strong, pushing the doubles portion to the brim before ultimately falling to the Wolverines. Both squads would take a doubles match as Michigan’s Gavin Young and Ondrej Styler took down MSU’s Kazuki Matsuno and Josh Portnoy just before the Spartan duo of Max Sheldon and Graydon Lair earned a 6-2 decision over Michigan’s Jacob Bickersteth and Will Cooksey. In the deciding contest at No. 1 doubles, the Spartan duo of Ozan Baris and Reed Crocker fought hard but couldn’t complete the comeback, falling 4-6 as the Wolverines took the doubles point.
In singles, the Wolverines jumped out to a 3-0 lead after taking wins at the No. 4 and No. 5 singles positions. Michigan’s Bickersteth took down MSU’s Lair at No. 4 singles while Portnoy dropped a narrow contest at the No. 5 position to UM’s Ehrenschneider, 4-6, 5-7.
The Spartans continued to battle throughout the remainder of the singles portion with four matches headed to a decisive final set. However, the Wolverines would clinch the match at No. 3 singles as Luke Baylis could not continue the momentum from his first-set win, falling to UM’s No. 40 Young, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6.
The Spartans would receive impressive performances in the final three matches with freshman David Saye earning MSU’s lone point,…
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