No. 29 Michigan State Men’s Tennis Takes on Indiana and Purdue on Another Road Trip Filled Weekend
Spartans look to continue their road wins this weekend.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men's tennis hits the road again as they take on No. 57 Indiana on Saturday at 12 p.m. and No. 47 Purdue on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Decorated Spartan
Senior Max Sheldon was named Big Ten Player of the Week this past week. Sheldon earned this award after an outstanding performance, going undefeated in singles play and securing crucial victories for the Spartans. It was his second career B1G weekly award.
Last Outing
MSU shook up its doubles pairings, deviating from previous weekends. Redshirt sophomore Aristotelis Thanos and freshman Danial Rakhmatullyev teamed up at the No. 1 doubles spot. The brother duo of senior Max Sheldon and freshman Mitchell Sheldon slotted in at No. 2 doubles, while sophomore Taym Alazmeh and freshman Vuk Radjenovic rounded out the lineup at No. 3.
The Sheldon brother duo were the first Spartans pairing to grab a win for the day. The pairing took on Bilicic/Shepp (NEB) and pulled away victorious at 6-3.
MSU's new pairing of Thanos/Rakhmatullayev challenged Mueller/Sysoev (NEB) but ultimately fell, 5-7.
The tie-breaking match was between Alazmeh/Radjenovic (MSU) and Linquet/Wells. A back-and-forth match favored the Spartans, winning 7-5.
After winning the doubles point, the Spartans went into their singles matches feeling confident but knew that they would have to dig deep and pull out the win against Nebraska.
Grabbing another point for the Spartans was freshman Vuk Radjenovic. Radjenovic took on Linquet (NEB). Linquet tried to fight back, but Radjenovic earned the 6-1, 6-4 win.
Ma. Sheldon picked up his second win of the day against Nikolay Sysoev (NEB). Ma. Sheldon pulled ahead at the last second in his first match to defeat 7-5, 6-4.
Clinching the win and completing the sweep for the Spartans was Ozan Baris. The Spartan junior faced Calvin Mueller (NEB), and the pairing had a tough battle but Baris ended the match by clinching victory in the singles match and the Spartans, 6-4, 7-5.
Team Rankings
Michigan State men's tennis is ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Men's Tennis Team Rankings and will be on the road to take on Indiana and Purdue at No. 29, continuing to climb up from their ranked positions.
Individual Rankings
In this week's ITA singles and doubles ranking, four Spartans found themselves within the ranks. Junior Ozan Baris kept his place in the top 10 at No. 5, redshirt-sophomore Aristotelis Thanos moved up from his long-standing spot at No. 21 to No. 22.
Ma.Sheldon found himself at No. 79 and freshman Matthew Forbes rounded the top 100 at No. 81.
Scouting Indiana
Indiana found themselves at No. 57 in this week's team rankings. The Hoosiers had one doubles pairings in the rankings, with Facundo Yunis and Jip Van Assendelft at No. 11.
The team is 9-5 on the season, 0-3 in the B1G conference and find themselves on a three-match losing streak.
Scouting Purdue
Purdue comes in at No, 47 in this week's team rankings. The Boilermakers have one player in the singles rankings, Aleksa Krivokapic at No. 104.
The team is 9-4 on the season 1-3 in the B1G conference. The Boilermakers take on No. 22 Michigan on Saturday, March 22.
Up Next
The Green and White are back home next weekend as they take on Penn State at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 29 and Ohio State at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 30.
No. 29 Michigan State Men’s Tennis Takes on Indiana and Purdue on Another Road Trip Filled Weekend - Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State men's tennis hits the road again as they take on No. 57 Indiana on Saturday at 12 p.m. and No. 47 Purdue on Sunday at 12 p.m.
