EAST LANSING, MICH. – 21st ranked Men’s Tennis will compete on the road for the first time this spring, taking on UC Santa Barbara on Saturday Jan. 27, at 10 a.m. and Pepperdine on Sunday Jan. 28 at noon Eastern in Malibu, Calif..
The Spartans started the season 2-0 in a home-opening double header on Friday, Jan. 19 with dominant wins over Western Michigan and Brown. MSU dropped just one point of 14, topping the Broncos 6-1 and sweeping the Bears 7-0.
The No. 2 ranked doubles team in the nation, Max Sheldon and Ozan Baris, who are fresh off the program’s first national title at the ITA Fall National Championships in early November, are expected to make their season debuts in singles and doubles.
Scouting UC Santa Barbara
Saturday’s matchup with MSU will be the season opener for UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos are the defending back-to-back Big West champions, having won the conference title in seven of the last eight seasons.
The Gauchos are led by the No. 19 singles player in the nation, senior Pablo Masjuan who last season racked up five ranked singles victories and played to the quarterfinals of the ITA Fall National Championships in November. The pairing of Masjuan and junior Gianluca Brunkow rank as the No. 37 doubles team nationally.
Series History vs. UC Santa Barbara
This will mark MSU’s first ever dual against UC Santa Barbara.
Scouting Pepperdine
The Waves will open their season against Georgia Tech, who received votes in the latest ITA rankings, prior to facing MSU. Pepperdine won the West Coast Conference championship in 2023 and has finished top two in the WCC with eight-win seasons the last three seasons.
Freshman Edward Winter is ranked 23rd nationally in singles and begins his collegiate career already with multiple pro titles to his name. He pairs up with sophomore Maxi Homberg to make the ITA’s No. 43 doubles team.
Seniors Guide MSU to 2-0, Sweep of Brown
MSU’s seniors boosted the Spartans to 2-0 on the day and a perfect start to the season, aiding in five of the Spartans seven points in the sweep of Brown.
To start the night, graduate student Ronnie Hohmann III and senior Reed Crocker teamed up with younger teammates to win their respective doubles matches, their firsts of the season, and the doubles point for MSU.
In singles play senior Luke Baylis shined in his first…
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