Four Spartans Reach New Heights in ITA Men’s Tennis Pre-Season Rankings
9/5/2023 1:48:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Baris and Sheldon Named Program-Best No. 2 Doubles Team in the Country
Three Michigan State Men's Tennis singles players and two doubles pairings were featured in the ITA Division I Men's preseason rankings, highlighted by the duo of sophomore Ozan Baris and junior Max Sheldon, who were named the No. 2 doubles team for the upcoming season.
Baris finds himself high on both ranking lists, also being named No. 25 singles player in DI men's tennis while grad transfers Ronald Hohmann III and Sebastien Collard were also tabbed as the No. 37 and No. 110 ranked singles players. The pairing of Hohmann III and Collard were also named the No. 52 doubles team for the 2023-24 season.
"It's great for Ronnie, Sebastien, Ozan and Max to be recognized and its a huge moment for our program in the sense of the respect and recognition of other coaches across the nation," Head Coach Harry Jadun said. "With that being said, we're going to value postseason rankings way more than preseason rankings so we still know we have our work cut out for us as we continue to develop everyday and work to improve as the season goes on. There's a lot of work to be done, but its a great start for our program and I'm excited to see where it takes us."
Baris and Sheldon are coming off a season that saw the underclassmen earn ITA All-American and First Team All-Big Ten honors after spending 13-straight weeks on the ITA Rankings, reaching as high as No. 6 on two occasions.
The duo, who posted a season doubles record of 8-3 (6-2 against nationally ranked opponents), fell in the NCAA Doubles Championships Round of 16 after beating No. 1 seeded duo Samuel/Thomson of South Carolina, 6-4, 6-2, in the round of 32.
Baris, who won the 2022 U.S. Open Juniors Doubles title alongside Stanford star Nishesh Basavareddy, was also named last year's Big Ten Freshman Player of the Year, the first Spartan to earn the honor since 1993. The Okemos native was the first Spartan to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Singles Championships since 2007 and first freshman since 1996. Baris would eventually lose to Basavareddy in the round of 32, finishing with a season record of 11-12.
Hohmann III is entering his first year with the Spartans after a successful four years at LSU, three as the Tigers No. 1. The New York native ended last season ranked as the ITA No. 24 singles player and second-team All-SEC for the second time in his career as well as an ITA All-American in consecutive years.
Joining Hohmann III and also transferring in as a graduate student is Sebastien Collard from south Alabama. As the Jaguars No.1, the Gatineau, Quebec native was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in both 2022 and 2023. Collard improves his career-best ITA singles ranking from No. 123 at the end of last season.
The Spartans highly-anticipated season kicks off Sept. 15-17 at the Wake Forest Duals in Winston-Salem, N.C..
Baris finds himself high on both ranking lists, also being named No. 25 singles player in DI men's tennis while grad transfers Ronald Hohmann III and Sebastien Collard were also tabbed as the No. 37 and No. 110 ranked singles players. The pairing of Hohmann III and Collard were also named the No. 52 doubles team for the 2023-24 season.
"It's great for Ronnie, Sebastien, Ozan and Max to be recognized and its a huge moment for our program in the sense of the respect and recognition of other coaches across the nation," Head Coach Harry Jadun said. "With that being said, we're going to value postseason rankings way more than preseason rankings so we still know we have our work cut out for us as we continue to develop everyday and work to improve as the season goes on. There's a lot of work to be done, but its a great start for our program and I'm excited to see where it takes us."
Baris and Sheldon are coming off a season that saw the underclassmen earn ITA All-American and First Team All-Big Ten honors after spending 13-straight weeks on the ITA Rankings, reaching as high as No. 6 on two occasions.
The duo, who posted a season doubles record of 8-3 (6-2 against nationally ranked opponents), fell in the NCAA Doubles Championships Round of 16 after beating No. 1 seeded duo Samuel/Thomson of South Carolina, 6-4, 6-2, in the round of 32.
Baris, who won the 2022 U.S. Open Juniors Doubles title alongside Stanford star Nishesh Basavareddy, was also named last year's Big Ten Freshman Player of the Year, the first Spartan to earn the honor since 1993. The Okemos native was the first Spartan to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Singles Championships since 2007 and first freshman since 1996. Baris would eventually lose to Basavareddy in the round of 32, finishing with a season record of 11-12.
Hohmann III is entering his first year with the Spartans after a successful four years at LSU, three as the Tigers No. 1. The New York native ended last season ranked as the ITA No. 24 singles player and second-team All-SEC for the second time in his career as well as an ITA All-American in consecutive years.
Joining Hohmann III and also transferring in as a graduate student is Sebastien Collard from south Alabama. As the Jaguars No.1, the Gatineau, Quebec native was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in both 2022 and 2023. Collard improves his career-best ITA singles ranking from No. 123 at the end of last season.
The Spartans highly-anticipated season kicks off Sept. 15-17 at the Wake Forest Duals in Winston-Salem, N.C..
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