STILLWATER, Okla. – Three Spartans are prepared for battle at the NCAA Championships as sophomore Ozan Baris and graduate student Ronald Hohmann III begin singles play Monday while Baris pairs with junior Max Sheldon in the doubles tournament.
The ITA Fall National Champion pairing of sophomore Ozan Baris and junior Max Sheldon return to the NCAA Championships for the second time in as many years. Graduate student Ronald Hohmann III will participate in the NCAA Singles Championships for the third time in his career and Baris competes in both the singles and doubles brackets in back-to-back seasons.
Baris, the overall No. 8 seed, will meet Auburn’s Tyler Stice in the round of 64 matchup on Monday at 4:30 p.m. ET. When the Spartans met the Tigers in a regular season tournament on Feb. 24, Hohmann defeated Stice in three sets on main court while Baris was victorious in straight sets at No. 2 singles. Stice is ranked No. 31 in the ITA singles rankings with a 17-13 record, 4-9 against ranked opponents.
Hohmann, an at-large selection ranked 53rd, faces sixth-ranked Oliver Tarvet of San Diego at 3:30 p.m. ET. Hohmann ended the dual season on a two-match win streak, on his way to a third before his match was cut short by MSU’s elimination in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Tarvet is 24-5 on the season, 13-4 against ranked opponents.
Sheldon and Baris will chase All-American status for a second consecutive season, opening in the round of 32 against No. 2 seed duo Dhakshineswar Suresh and Holden Koons of Wake Forest on Tuesday. The Demon Deacon duo leads DI college tennis by a margin of eight wins with 30 on the season and an overall record of 30-6.
Baris and Sheldon defeated the No. 1 seeded doubles team in the first round of last year’s NCAA Championships but fell in the round of 16. The duo bounced back the next fall however, winning the ITA Fall National Championship in November and reaching as high as No. 1 in this season’s ITA rankings, currently No. 16 with a 12-5 record.
In Hohmann’s first season at MSU, the Second Team All-Big Ten selection is headed to the singles tournament for the third time in his career after earning entry twice while at LSU. The Oyster Bay, N.Y. native made it to the sweet 16 behind a pair of wins in 2022 after falling in the first round in 2021. Hohmann finished the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Michigan State University Athletics…