Men's Tennis Hosts Matches Against Indiana, Purdue this Weekend

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's tennis hosts Big Ten foes Purdue and Indiana this weekend in East Lansing. The Spartans kick off competition with a match against Indiana on Friday, Apri 8 at 3 p.m., followed by a match with Purdue on Sunday, April 10 at noon.

With the two matches being the final home contests of the season for MSU, Sunday's match will include a Senior Day celebration.

LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans dropped a pair of tough matches to ranked Big Ten opponents No. 25 Northwestern and No. 55 Illinois last weekend. Both losses came by 6-1 margins.

Max Sheldon and Luke Baylis were the sole Spartans to win their matches this weekend. On Sunday, April 3, Sheldon went up against Illinois' All-American player Siphosothando Montsi at No. 2 singles. After losing the first set 6-1 to Montsi, Sheldon bounced back for huge wins in the second and third sets, 6-0, 6-2, to earn the victory. Sheldon holds a 18-9 overall record in singles play with a 3-1 mark when playing on the No. 2 court.

On April 1, Baylis earned a victory against Trice Pickens of Northwestern in No. 3 singles action. Baylis battled through a tiebreaker to take the first set, 7-6. Despite a win by Pickens 6-2 in the second set, Baylis won in the superset, 10-6, to come away with the win. Baylis is 19-13 in singles action this season.

COACH ORLANDO'S THOUGHTS
"A big weekend for the Spartans coming up against two very good teams in Indiana and Purdue. We are looking to turn our season around and celebrate our seniors this weekend in their final home matches."

SCOUTING THE HOOSIERS
Indiana holds a 22-63 advantage over Michigan State in a storied history between the two Big Ten programs. The Spartans have won 13 of 36 matches played at home with the Hoosiers.

Last time out, Indiana earned the victory when MSU traveled to Bloomington for a match on March 28, 2021, with the Hoosiers coming away with a 7-0 sweep of the Green & White.

SENIOR CELEBRATION
The Spartans will take time this weekend to celebrate the team's three graduating seniors, Carson Gates, Josh Mukherjee and Jack Winkler.

MSU's annual team banquet will take place on Saturday, followed by the final home match of the season on Sunday, April 10 beginning at noon. A recognition of the three seniors will take place between the singles and doubles matches on Sunday.

UP NEXT
The Spartans are on the road next week for another Friday-Sunday slate of Big Ten matches. On April 1 they travel to Northwestern for a match at 6 p.m. with the Wildcats, and on Sunday, April 3 take on Illinois at noon in Champaign.

Men's Tennis Hosts Matches Against Indiana, Purdue this Weekend

Players Mentioned

Luke Baylis

Carson Gates

Josh Mukherjee

Max Sheldon

Jack Winkler

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