No. 16 Michigan State Men’s Tennis Hits the Road for Showdowns at Tennessee and Clemson
MSU hits the road again for another weekend of play.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 16 Michigan State men's tennis hits the road for another action-packed weekend, traveling to No. 19 Tennessee on Friday, Jan. 31 before facing Clemson on Sunday, Feb. 2.
The Spartans take the court at 5 p.m. ET at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. Sunday's match is at 12 p.m. ET at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility at Clemson, South Carolina.
On Friday, MSU will be playing in its third Top-25 match-up in as many weeks, after beating No. 7 Kentucky in the season-opener and falling at No. 2 TCU last weekend.
After a split weekend at the ITA Kickoff Weekend, losing at host No. 2 TCU, the Spartans climbed one spot in the ITA team rankings, moving from No. 17 to No. 16.
Fans can follow the weekend action with "Watch Live" and "Live Results" links available at MSUSpartans.com. Live updates will also be available on X/Twitter at @MSU_MTennis.
Last Outing
The Spartans finished their first road trip of the spring season at ITA Kickoff Weekend. The team split the weekend, clinching a sweep against Liberty, 4-0 but falling to No. 2 ranked TCU, 1-4.
On the first day of the ITA Kickoff, the Spartans took on Liberty. The Spartans grabbed the doubles point quickly but knew they needed to use that momentum and energy to seal the team's victory.
Ma. Sheldon was the first Spartan to win a singles point, defeating Carl Roothman from Liberty 6-3, 6-1.
Thanos followed up with a strong win over Joaquim Almeida from Liberty, 6-2, 6-2.
Radjenovic had a tough match against Rodrigo Santiago Arraez but managed to win in a tiebreaker, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, securing the final point for the team and earning his first collegiate singles win.
With the team already ahead, the remaining matches went unfinished.
Good effort was brought by all Spartans in the match against TCU, but freshman Matthew Forbes was the only player to score a point for the Spartans that match.
Scouting Tennessee
Tennessee kicks off the season with a 4-2 record, splitting their weekend at the ITA Kickoff. The Vols secured a 4-2 victory over Illinois but fell to Michigan, 1-4. Tennessee comes in behind MSU in the most recent ITA rankings at No. 19.
Scouting Clemson
Clemson starts the season off going 4-0, with their most recent action being a close win over FAU, 4-3, this past weekend. In the most recent ITA ranking, Clemson remains unranked.
Up Next:
Following these two matches the Spartans head on another trip the following week as they will travel to Boise, Idaho to take on Boise State on Sunday, Feb 9 at 1 p.m. ET/11 a.m. MT.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
Vince Orlando Named MSU Men’s Tennis Assistant Coach
Son of legendary Spartan head coach joins MSU staff.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State men's tennis head coach Harry Jadun announced the addition of Vince Orlando as an assistant coach.A native of Lansing, Michigan, Vince Orlando is the son of former MSU men's tennis coaching legend Gene Orlando, who retired in 2022 after 31 seasons at the helm of the Spartans and is the winningest coach in program history with 361 victories.
"I couldn't be more excited to join the MSU Tennis coaching staff," Vince Orlando said. "Coaching on the courts I grew up on is truly a dream come true. Spartan tennis is one big family, and I'm eager to continue and build upon that legacy."
Orlando replaces Kazuki Matsuno, who left the Spartan staff in December to join the Pepperdine staff.
"We are thrilled to welcome Vince Orlando to our coaching staff," Jadun said. "Vince brings a wealth of experience as a player, and his expertise will undoubtedly have a positive impact on our student-athletes. Having grown up around our program, Vince understands what it truly means to be a Spartan. There's no doubt in my mind that he is the perfect fit to help push this program forward, and I'm confident he has an incredibly bright future ahead of him in the coaching world."
The younger Orlando played five seasons at Ball State, including receiving the Mid-American Conference's Jack Vredevelt Sportsmanship Award, an annual honor presented to a MAC senior who has displayed outstanding sportsmanship throughout his career. The last time a Ball State player earned the accolade was in 2017.
While at Ball State, he also earned All-MAC Tournament accolades, as well as earning MAC Athlete of the Week for either singles or doubles a total of five times during his career. Orlando helped Ball State reach a ranking as high at No. 44 during his Cardinal career. He collected 78 singles wins during his BSU career, highlighted by wins over Michigan State, Indiana, Notre Dame, Purdue and Memphis, playing primarily at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles the majority of his career with the Cardinals.
Academically, Orlando helped Ball State earn three ITA Academic Team awards and was a five-time recipient of the ITA Scholar-Athlete Award, along with a four-time Academic All-MAC honoree. He also was a four-year member of Ball State's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was BSU's SAAC treasurer his senior year.
Orlando graduated with a bachelor's degree in interpersonal communication with a minor in psychology from Ball State, along with his master's in information communication sciences.
Jadun, Orlando and the No. 16 Spartans are on the road again this weekend, traveling to play Tennessee on Friday, January 31, then head to Clemson on Sunday, February 2.
Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.
