EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State men’s tennis returns to the court this week, taking on No. 5 Michigan on Thursday, March 30 in East Lansing before traveling to Blacksburg, Virginia on Saturday, April 1 to take on No. 69 Virginia Tech.
Thursday’s match against the Wolverines is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center, while Saturday’s dual against the Hokies is slated to start at noon. Live scoring and streaming will be available on MSUSpartans.com
The Spartans head into this weekend’s matches at 6-9 (0-2 Big Ten) having dropped their last two matches on the road to No. 45 Nebraska and No. 52 Wisconsin last weekend by identical 5-2 results. Freshman Ozan Baris continued his dominance for the Spartans going 4-0 overall between the two matches. The doubles tandem of Baris and senior Anthony Pero went undefeated through the weekend, while in singles, Baris picked up consecutive straight-set wins to extend his singles win streak to three matches.
The Spartans were once again highlighted in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, sliding down to No. 75 as a team. Individually, Baris ranks No. 51 in singles and the pairing of Baris and sophomore Max Sheldon come in at No. 17 in doubles.
No. 5 Michigan heads into Thursday’s match at 15-2 (2-0 Big Ten) having won its past two matches against the Spartans’ previous opponents last weekend. The Wolverines followed up an impressive 5-2 victory over Wisconsin with a sweep of Nebraska to close the weekend 2-0. Michigan is led in singles by Andrew Fenty and Ondrej Styler who come in at No. 10 and No. 14 in the latest ITA men’s singles rankings, respectively. In doubles, the pairing of Fenty and Gavin Young leads the team with an 8-3 record this spring, coming in at No. 8 in the ITA men’s doubles rankings. Michigan leads the all-time series 105-20 and took last season’s meeting in Ann Arbor, 6-1.
No. 69 Virginia Tech enters the weekend at 8-11 (2-6 ACC) having snapped a five-match losing streak last Sunday on the road against Boston College. The Hokies are led in singles by Ryan Fishback who ranks at No. 49 in the ITA men’s singles rankings with a 10-9 record this spring. In doubles, the pairing of Fishback and Jordan Chrysostom co-led the team with six doubles wins as part of the No. 18 men’s doubles tandem in the…
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