Men's Tennis Topped by Brown, 4-3, Saturday

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State men's tennis let an early lead slip away, dropping a 4-3 decision to Brown on Saturday afternoon inside the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility.

"Really tough match today, our guys really played hard," said MSU men's tennis head coach Gene Orllando. "Unfortunately, it didn't go our way. We were in position to get a great win, but we knew it would come down to the last match, and today the Brown Bears were just better. Our guys fought hard. We are looking forward to having a good spring break and get some training outdoors, then get ready for Michigan on March 13."

Doubles

Freshman duo Jarreau Campbell and Drew Keene tallied their fourth doubles win of the season and first on court one, knocking off Jacob Walker and Roger Chou, 6-4, in their third appearance in the top slot. The duos traded games early and Campbell and Keene used a late break to seal the win.

Brown got on the board in doubles action with a 6-3 win on court two. Sophomore Anthony Pero and junior John Carlin couldn't overcome an early hole against BU's Peter Litsky and Teddy Van Eck, falling ( ) to the Brown tandem.

The Spartans clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win by freshman Kazuki Matsuno and junior Josh Mukherjee on court three over Brown's Niraj Komatineni and Robert Siniakowicz. Matsuno and Mukherjee tallied their team-best fifth doubles win for the Spartans, all on court three.

Singles

The Spartans took control early in singles action, winning the first set on five of six courts. Pero and Gates tallied 6-2 and 6-3 wins in the first and Matsuno and Campbell came away with 6-3, 6-4 wins, respectively. Mukherjee rallied late to secure a 7-5 first set win on court four.

Matsuno, competing in the sixth slot for the third time this season, put the Spartans up 2-0 with a straight-set victory over Matthew Mu. The freshman controlled the match from start to finish on his way to the 6-3, 6-3 win, improving his record to 2-1 on court six.

The Bears answered with two wins on court one and two to tie the match at two apiece. Pero rolled in the first set over, 6-2, before Litsky rallied to win 10 of the next 12 games on his way to a three-set victory for Brown on court two. On court one, Carlin fell in a close first set to Walker, 7-5, before Walker closed out the match with a 6-1 win in the second to tie the match at two.

Michigan state regained the lead, 3-2, after a three-set victory by sophomore Carson Gates on court three. Gates and Chou split the first two sets (6-3, 1-6) and Gates raced through the third set (6-1) to give the Spartans a 3-2 edge over the Bears. Brown fought back to tie the match at three after Van Eck's three set win on court four over Mukherjee. Mukherjee trailed 5-3 in the first set, but fought back to win four-straight games and the first set, 7-5. Van Eck took the final two sets (6-3, 6-2) to tie the match with one court remaining.

In the clinching match, Campbell faced Komatineni on court five. After a 6-4 first win by Campbell, Komatineni answered with a decisive 7-6 (3) win in the second set to force a winner take all third and final set. Campbell fell behind early (2-0), before rallying to win four of the next five games to take a 4-3 lead. Komatineni won the final three games to secure the 6-4 win to clinch the 4-3 victory for the Bears.

Up Next

The Spartans take a week off before opening Big Ten play on Friday, March 13 at Michigan. Action is slated to begin at 6 p.m. in Ann Arbor.

Brown 4, Michigan State 3

Doubles Results

1. Jarreau Campbell/Drew Keene (MSU) def. Jacob Walker/Roger Chou (BU), 6-4

2. Peter Litsky/Teddy Van Eck (BU) def. Anthony Pero/John Carlin (MSU), 6-3

3. Josh Mukherjee/Kazuki Matsuno (MSU) def. Niraj Komatineni/Robert Siniakowicz (MSU), 6-4

Singles Results

1. Jacob Walker (BU) def. John Carlin (MSU), 7-5, 6-1

2. Peter Litsky (BU) def. Anthony Pero (MSU), 2-6, 6-0, 6-2

3. Carson Gates (MSU) def. Roger Chou (BU), 6-3, 1-6, 6-1

4. Teddy Van Eck (BU) def. Josh Mukherjee (MSU), 5-7, 6-3, 6-2

5. Niraj Komatineni (BU) vs. Jarreau Campbell (MSU)

6. Kazuki Matsuno (MSU) def. Matthew Mu, 6-3, 6-3

Order of Finish:

Doubles: (1,2,3); Singles (6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Jarreau Campbell

John Carlin

Carson Gates

Drew Keene

Kazuki Matsuno

Josh Mukherjee

Anthony Pero