Men's Tennis Hosts No. 3 Ohio State, Penn State for First Outdoor Home Matches
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's tennis returns home this weekend to host a pair of Big Ten opponents. The Spartans (7-10, 0-3 B1G) play third-ranked Ohio State (21-2, 4-0 B1G) on Friday, April 7 at 4 p.m. before taking on Penn State (13-8, 0-4 B1G) on Sunday, April 9 at noon. Both matches will be held at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Center.
Live scoring will be available on MSUSpartans.com. Streaming will not be available.
The 67th-ranked Spartans enter the weekend after going 1-1 last week, falling to then- No. 5 Michigan, 6-1, on March 30 before securing a 5-2 road win at then-No. 69 Virginia Tech on April 1. After falling in a hard-fought battle with the Wolverines that saw four singles matches go into three sets, the Spartans bounced back with an impressive singles showing to earn their first road win of the season in Blacksburg.
MSU moved up eight spots in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings this week to No. 67. Freshman Ozan Baris climbed to No. 40 in the ITA singles rankings, while Baris and sophomore Ozan Baris made a significant jump to No. 6 in the doubles rankings, earning the highest-ever ranking for a doubles team in program history.
Baris and Sheldon picked up their sixth win over a ranked doubles team this season at Virginia Tech, defeating 18th-ranked Jordan Chrysostom and Ryan Fishback, 6-4. Freshman David Saye is on a two-match winning streak, earning MSU's lone point in the Michigan dual and winning his match at No. 6 singles at Virginia Tech.
Ohio State enters Friday's match on a six-match winning streak, most recently topping Nebraska (7-0) and Wisconsin (6-1) last week. The highest-ranked team in the league, the Buckeyes boast an impressive six ranked singles players and three ranked doubles teams. Penn State will play Michigan on Friday before arriving in East Lansing Sunday. The Nittany Lions have played five-straight ranked opponents, most recently falling to Wisconsin (5-2) and Nebraska (5-1) at home.
Up next, MSU travels to Indiana to take on Purdue on Friday, April 14 at 3 p.m. before facing Indiana on Sunday, April 16 at noon.
Women's Tennis Concludes Road Stretch in Indiana
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State women's tennis concludes its season-long, four-dual road stretch with a weekend doubleheader in Indiana. The Spartans will take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, April 8 at 11 a.m. and return to action the following day to face the No. 47 Purdue Boilermakers at noon.
Live scoring and streaming will be available on MSUSpartans.com.
#UNMATCHED APPROACH
MSU heads into the weekend at 8-10 (1-6 Big Ten) having dropped its last three contests, with two of those losses coming to ranked opponents. Sophomore Liisa Vehvilainen leads the Spartans with a 17-9 record this spring, including a 6-3 record at the No. 1 singles position. Freshmen Marley Lambert and Juliette Nask are tied for second on the team with six singles win apiece.
In doubles, the Spartans are led by Vehvilainen and junior Ayshe Can who have a 9-5 record this spring at the No. 1 doubles slot. The duo of Issey Purser and Nicole Conard rank second on the team with a 5-2 record after having their four-match win streak snapped last week against Northwestern.
LAST POINT
MSU began its four-dual road stretch last weekend in Illinois, falling 4-0 to the No. 34 ranked Illinois Fighting Illini before finishing the weekend against Northwestern in what was a 4-1 win for the Wildcats.
Against Illinois, the Spartans came close to securing the doubles point, ultimately falling at the No. 1 position, 7-5, before dropping the tiebreak at the No. 2 slot 7-6 (1) to give the Fighting Illini the 1-0 lead heading into singles. Illinois would clinch the match with a straight set win at No. 3 singles before the Spartans, who were leading at the No. 4 and No. 6 slots, could get on the board.
MSU concluded the weekend dropping a tough battle against Northwestern. In doubles, the Spartans, who were without Can, fought hard at all three positions but could not corral the Wildcats as NU took wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles positions to secure the doubles point. In singles, MSU's Conard fell to NU's No. 109 Christina Hand before the Wildcats secured a victory at No. 6 singles to take a 3-0 lead. Spartan freshman Nask would secure MSU's lone point with a straight-set win at No. 5 singles, but the Wildcats would secure victory as MSU could not complete a comeback at No. 2 singles, giving NU the 4-1 win.
THE HOOSIER STATE
Indiana enters the weekend at 11-7 (2-4 Big Ten), preparing to take on both squads from the Great Lakes State as MSU and No. 3 Michigan embark on a weekend trip to the Hoosier State.
Indiana is coming off its first ranked win last weekend against No. 57 Iowa on the road, 4-2. In singles, the Hoosiers are led by redshirt sophomore Lara Schneider who has a 12-3 record this spring at the No. 1 singles slot. In doubles, the pairing of Schneider and Saby Nihalani lead IU with a 9-5 mark at the No. 1 doubles position. The Spartans have won the past two meetings between the two squads with identical 5-2 results in East Lansing.
No. 47 Purdue hits the court this weekend at 12-5 (3-3 Big Ten), welcoming No. 3 Michigan on Saturday, April 8, before hosting the Spartans the following day. The Boilermakers snapped a season-long, four four-dual losing streak last weekend against No. 71 Nebraska, dispatching the Cornhuskers 4-1 in Lincoln. In singles, the Boilermakers are led by senior Csilla Fodor who has an 11-2 record this spring. In doubles, the pairing of Kennedy Gibbs and Juana Larranaga lead the team with an 11-5 record. Michigan State has won four of the last six meetings between the two schools after Purdue took last season's meeting in East Lansing, 4-1.
Men's Tennis Hosts No. 3 Ohio State, Penn State for First Outdoor Home Matches - Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State men's tennis returns home this weekend to host a pair of Big Ten opponents. The Spartans (7-10, 0-3 B1G) play third-ranked Ohio State (21-2, 4-0 B1G)
msuspartans.com
Women's Tennis Concludes Road Stretch in Indiana - Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State women's tennis concludes its season-long, four-dual road stretch with a weekend doubleheader in Indiana.
msuspartans.com
