Men's Tennis Defeats Toledo and Bucknell

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's tennis picked up another pair of wins on Saturday, Jan. 29 at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. The Spartans took on Toledo in the morning match, earning a 4-3 win over the Rockets before going on to defeat Bucknell, 7-0.

The Spartans move to 6-0 on the season, undefeated in non-conference play with Big Ten competition beginning in March.

"Every team is good, and we know that when we get a mid-major team, they're gonna come in and they're gonna give us their best shot," Head Coach Gene Orlando said of the 4-3 Toledo win. "We jumped out to 4-0 and then let a couple matches slip away from us, but that's part of the game, and I'm happy that we were able to rebound."

The Spartans swept the courts in doubles against Toledo, securing the first point of the match. First off the court was the duo of Carson Gates and Max Sheldon, having picked up a 6-3 win over Luis Kleinschultz and Luka Jankovic at the No. 3 spot. At No. 2, Jack Winkler and Reed Crocker defeated Adam Kovac and Krzysztof Wetoszka, 6-4. With MSU having won two out of three matches, the match at No. 1 went unfinished with Kazuki Matsuno and Nick Williams carrying a 5-4 lead over Toledo's Marco Galic and Pawit Sornlaksup.

In singles action, Michigan State picked up wins on three of six courts. Baylis was the first Spartan with a solo win when he won in straight sets at No. 5, 6-2, 6-1, over Toledo's Kleinschultz. Shortly after, Gates won in a similar fashion at No. 2 with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Adam Kovac. Off to a great start in his first year with the Spartans, freshman Max Sheldon defeated Toledo's Wetoszka 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 3 court.

At No. 5, Williams fell 6-2 in his first set, and despite taking his opponent into a tiebreaker in the second set, he ultimately lost 7-6 to Galic. On the top court, Winkler put up a fight against Sornlaksup. After taking the first set 6-2, things evened up with a 6-4 Toledo win in the second. Winkler fell by a narrow 10-8 loss in the third and final set.

The Spartans also won the doubles decision in the nightcap against Bucknell. Anthony Pero and Luke Baylis earned a quick 6-4 victory at No. 2 against Tim Zelikovsky and Ink Chen to get the ball rolling. Bucknell threw a tie into the mix with a 6-3 win over Jarreau Campbell and Nick Williams at the No. 1 court. On the third court, Josh Portnoy and Josh Mukherjee took their match into a tiebreaker decision with Bucknell's Nicolas Grunig and Per Astrom. Facing a 6-6 tie, Portnoy and Mukherjee earned the winning point with a 7-1 victory in the tiebreaker set.

Following his win at doubles, Mukherjee blanked his opponent, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 to earn the Spartans their first point in singles play. Portnoy was close behind with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Zelikovsky. The Green & White secured the winning point when Jarreau Campbell came off the No. 4 court with a 6-4, 6-2 win.

To round out the night, Anthony Pero earned a victory on the top court. Pero played to an impressive win, coming back from a 4-1 deficit in the first set to win it 7-5. From there, he defeated Bucknell's Nick Mueller 6-3 in the second set to snag the point. Reed Crocker on court five won the final match of the night 6-7, 6-2 with a lengthy 13-11 tiebreak victory.

"I'm excited to advance and to have finished January 6-0," Orlando said. "It's time to get ready for the second quarter of the season, we know we've got some tougher matches ahead."

Michigan State takes to the road for the first time this season on Saturday, Feb. 5. The Spartans face off against Western Michigan in Kalamazoo at 3 p.m.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Luke Baylis

Jarreau Campbell

Reed Crocker

Carson Gates

Kazuki Matsuno

Josh Mukherjee

Anthony Pero

Josh Portnoy

Max Sheldon

Nick Williams

Jack Winkler