Spartan Men’s Tennis Tabbed At No. 23 In ITA Preseason Rankings
1/8/2025 3:51:00 PM | Men's Tennis
MSU ranked in preseason poll for second-straight season.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State men's tennis is ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Men's Tennis Preseason Team Rankings for the second-straight season, and will open the spring portion of the schedule at No. 23.
After not being ranked in the Top 25 preseason poll since the ITA rankings began in 1981, this is the second year in a row that MSU has been ranked in the preseason poll, as the Spartans were No. 24 in last season's preseason Top 25.
The ITA Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by the ITA National Ranking Committee. The National Ranking Committee is made up of the 13 ITA Region Chairs, with each chair casting a ballot.
"It's really awesome to see the recognition from the other coaches across the country in ranking us 23rd in the country," MSU head coach Harry Jadun said. "Our goal is to be one of the premier programs in the country and that starts by getting inside the Top 25 which we were able to accomplish last year. So we're really looking to make a big jump this year and we want to compete for Big Ten Championships and National Championships, so we're looking at this as the starting point of the building blocks for that. We really feel that it's a great place for us to be, and based on our schedule and the amount of Top 10 teams we have on our schedule, we're really excited for those opportunities to really prove ourselves throughout the year."
In addition to No. 23 Michigan State, the ITA Preseason Team Rankings include three other Big Ten teams, as MSU is joined by No. 3 Ohio State, No. 20 UCLA and No. 25 Michigan.
Four of the Spartans' opponents are also ranked including MSU's spring opening opposition in No. 7 Kentucky on Friday, Jan. 15. The Spartan schedule also includes No. 2 TCU (Jan. 26 at Fort Worth, Texas), No. 13 Tennessee (Jan. 31 at Knoxville, Tennessee), No. 6 Arizona (March 12 at East Lansing).
Michigan State is looking to build off a record-breaking season in 2023-24, in which the program reached heights never attained before, including 23 team wins, the most in program history, along with being ranked in the Top 25 in every poll during the season, reaching as high as No. 15.
The Spartans are coming off a fall in which junior Ozan Baris reached the NCAA Individual Championship match, falling in three sets to Columbia's Michael Zheng. Baris continues to make Spartan men's tennis program history, as he was the first MSU player to play in a national singles final. He was also the first Spartan to reach two national semifinals, advancing to the last four of the singles championships in back-to-back years, after losing to eventual national champion Filip Planinsek of Alabama last spring.
Baris was joined at the NCAA Individual Championships by redshirt sophomore Aristotelis Thanos, who fell to Colton Smith of Arizona in the second round. In the final ITA individual rankings of fall action, Baris was ranked No. 8, while Thanos No. 27.
Other Spartans to watch this spring include freshman Matthew Forbes, who at No. 40 in the ITA individual rankings, is the highest ranked true freshman in the nation. The fourth and final Spartan in the individual ranking was senior Max Sheldon at No. 83.
In doubles, freshman Danial Rakhmatullayev and sophomore Taym Alazmeh are at No. 66, while the doubles duo of Baris and Thanos were at No. 94, the tandem of Forbes and Baris was at No. 99, and the doubles team of Sheldon and Forbes was No. 107.
Freshman Vuk Radjenovic signed with the Spartans in December and joins the roster for the spring action as well.
The Spartans' spring campaign kicks off on Friday, Jan. 17 at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center with a marquee match-up against No. 7 Kentucky at 5 p.m.
After not being ranked in the Top 25 preseason poll since the ITA rankings began in 1981, this is the second year in a row that MSU has been ranked in the preseason poll, as the Spartans were No. 24 in last season's preseason Top 25.
The ITA Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by the ITA National Ranking Committee. The National Ranking Committee is made up of the 13 ITA Region Chairs, with each chair casting a ballot.
"It's really awesome to see the recognition from the other coaches across the country in ranking us 23rd in the country," MSU head coach Harry Jadun said. "Our goal is to be one of the premier programs in the country and that starts by getting inside the Top 25 which we were able to accomplish last year. So we're really looking to make a big jump this year and we want to compete for Big Ten Championships and National Championships, so we're looking at this as the starting point of the building blocks for that. We really feel that it's a great place for us to be, and based on our schedule and the amount of Top 10 teams we have on our schedule, we're really excited for those opportunities to really prove ourselves throughout the year."
In addition to No. 23 Michigan State, the ITA Preseason Team Rankings include three other Big Ten teams, as MSU is joined by No. 3 Ohio State, No. 20 UCLA and No. 25 Michigan.
Four of the Spartans' opponents are also ranked including MSU's spring opening opposition in No. 7 Kentucky on Friday, Jan. 15. The Spartan schedule also includes No. 2 TCU (Jan. 26 at Fort Worth, Texas), No. 13 Tennessee (Jan. 31 at Knoxville, Tennessee), No. 6 Arizona (March 12 at East Lansing).
Michigan State is looking to build off a record-breaking season in 2023-24, in which the program reached heights never attained before, including 23 team wins, the most in program history, along with being ranked in the Top 25 in every poll during the season, reaching as high as No. 15.
The Spartans are coming off a fall in which junior Ozan Baris reached the NCAA Individual Championship match, falling in three sets to Columbia's Michael Zheng. Baris continues to make Spartan men's tennis program history, as he was the first MSU player to play in a national singles final. He was also the first Spartan to reach two national semifinals, advancing to the last four of the singles championships in back-to-back years, after losing to eventual national champion Filip Planinsek of Alabama last spring.
Baris was joined at the NCAA Individual Championships by redshirt sophomore Aristotelis Thanos, who fell to Colton Smith of Arizona in the second round. In the final ITA individual rankings of fall action, Baris was ranked No. 8, while Thanos No. 27.
Other Spartans to watch this spring include freshman Matthew Forbes, who at No. 40 in the ITA individual rankings, is the highest ranked true freshman in the nation. The fourth and final Spartan in the individual ranking was senior Max Sheldon at No. 83.
In doubles, freshman Danial Rakhmatullayev and sophomore Taym Alazmeh are at No. 66, while the doubles duo of Baris and Thanos were at No. 94, the tandem of Forbes and Baris was at No. 99, and the doubles team of Sheldon and Forbes was No. 107.
Freshman Vuk Radjenovic signed with the Spartans in December and joins the roster for the spring action as well.
The Spartans' spring campaign kicks off on Friday, Jan. 17 at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center with a marquee match-up against No. 7 Kentucky at 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
A Mental Journey | Spartans All-Access
Thursday, January 23
Harry Jadun | Men's Tennis Press Conference | Jan. 14 2025
Tuesday, January 14
Ozan's Historic Run | Spartans All-Access
Wednesday, November 27
Harry Jadun | Men's Tennis Press Conference | Nov. 18 2024
Monday, November 18