BOSTON, Mass. – Michigan State Men's Tennis collected it's first ever NCAA Tournament win on Friday, May 3, sweeping the nation's last remaining undefeated team in third-seeded Denver, 4-0 to advance to the Boston Regional final.
The second-seeded and national No. 22 Spartans will face regional host and national No. 12 Harvard tomorrow at 2 p.m. for a shot at the sweet 16 after the crimson claimed a 4-0 win of their own over Boston University Friday.
Wins from the Spartans' two student-athletes with NCAA Tournament experience, graduate transfers in 2023 Ronald Hohmann III and Sebastien Collard boosted the Spartans to the historic win.
Head Coach Harry Jadun
"It's pretty remarkable," head coach Harry Jadun said. "You talk about 110 years of history and you just did something for the first time- maybe a week from now I'll understand the gravity of it. But we're working on our craft here, looking to compete and hopefully make a run."
In 2013 Jadun was a sophom*ore playing at No. 6 singles on the only other team MSU had sent to the NCAA Tournament, which lost in the first round and finished 14-14. Fast forward eleven years and in his second season at the helm of the program Jadun has turned around a program that hadn't won more than 15 games in the last decade and went 11-14 in his first year in charge to a season of several program first in 2024, namely a program-best 22 wins and now first NCAA Tournament win.
Match Recap
To start the day in doubles MSU got an early edge as the undefeated duo of freshman Aristotelis Thanos and sophom*ore Ozan Baris dominated on main court to a 6-0 win. The 65th-ranked doubles team in the country improved to 5-0 together. After leading 5-3 on court two and at match point for the doubles point, Denver clawed back and saw themselves even with the Spartans in the two remaining matches at 6-6.
It was the pairing of Hohmann and freshman Taym Alazmeh that prevailed, clinching the first tiebreaker and first point of the day for MSU, winning 7-6 [7-4].
In singles play, graduate student Sebastien Collard made quick work of his opponent in fourth slot, 6-2, 6-1 to double MSU's lead before other matches first frames had even been finished. Sophom*ore David Saye, also fresh from not having played in the doubles matches, followed and won in straight sets too, 6-4, 6-2.
With MSU needing just one more victory to seal the deal, it was Hohmann that got the job done. Hohmann claimed the first set 6-3 but was undeterred by an 0-6 second set failure to win the deciding third set 7-5 and clinch the victory for MSU.
Match Results
No. 22 Michigan State 4, No. 43 Denver 0
1. #9 Ozan Baris (MSU) vs. Nicolas Herrero Cuesta (DEN) 6-7 (6-8), 4-2, unfinished
2. #53 Ronald Hohmann (MSU) def. Daniel Sancho Arbizu (DEN) 6-3, 0-6, 7-5
3. Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) vs. Marvin Schaber (DEN) 7-5, 5-5, unfinished
4. Sebastien Collard (MSU) def. Anish Sirinketh (DEN) 6-2, 6-1
5. Max Sheldon (MSU) vs. Rafaello Papajcik (DEN) 4-6, 7-5, 1-2, unfinished
6. David Saye (MSU) def. Charlie Miller (DEN) 6-4, 6-2
1. #65 Ozan Baris/Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. Nicolas Herrero Cuesta/Rikuto Yamaguchi (DEN) 6-0
2. Taym Alazmeh/Ronald Hohmann (MSU) def. Daniel Sancho Arbizu/Marvin Schaber (DEN) 7-6 (7-4)
3. Max Sheldon/Graydon Lair (MSU) vs. Anish Sirinketh/Rafaello Papajcik (DEN) 6-6 (3-5), unfinished
Denver 23-1, National No. 43
Michigan State 23-6, National No. 22
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (4,6,2)
Scouting No. 12 Harvard
Following Friday's first round win the Crimson are 23-6, having won the a share of the competitive Ivy League regular season title at 6-1.
The Crimson played seven common opponents as the Spartans during the regular season: Northwestern (Harvard: 4-0, 4-0, MSU: 5-2), Michigan (Harvard: 6-1, MSU: 2-5, 3-4), Ohio State (Harvard: 1-4, MSU: 1-6), UC Santa Barbara (Harvard: 4-3, MSU: 5-2), Pepperdine (Harvard: 4-1, MSU: 5-2), Brown (Harvard: 7-0, MSU: 7-0) and Princeton (Harvard: 4-3, MSU: 0-4).
Harvard's Submitted Lineup
- Cooper Williams | Fr. – New York, N.Y. | 9-5 dual, 15-8 overall, ITA #15
- Henry von der Schulenberg | Sr. – Zurich, Switzerland | 12-4 dual, 12-4 overall, ITA #66
- Daniel Milavsky | Jr. – Needham, Mass. | 16-6 dual, 20-9 overall
- Ronan Jachuck | Sr. – Boca Raton, Fla. | 14-6 dual, 14-6 overall
- Rohan Murali | Fr. – San Diego, Calif. | 8-5 dual, 9-6 overall
- Melchior Delloye | So. – London, United Kingdom | 11-7 dual, 19-11 overall
- Daniel Milavsky/Cooper Williams | 11-9 dual, 24-11 overall, ITA #19
- Ronan Jachuck/Melchior Delloye | 2-0 dual, 2-0 overall
- Alan Yim/Masato Perera | 6-1 dual, 6-1 overall
Series History vs. Harvard
The Crimson hold a 4-1 all-time series lead over the Spartans, 3-0 on their home courts, also having won the last two affairs. The last meeting between the two was on Feb. 11, 2018 while the last time MSU came out on top was on Feb. 2, 2007.
MSU Submitted Lineup
- Ozan Baris | So. – Okemos, Mich. | 16-3 dual, 28-6 overall, ITA #9
- Ronald Hohmann III | Gr. – Oyster Bay, N.Y. | 14-10 dual, 22-14 overall, ITA #53
- Aristotelis Thanos | R-Fr. – Athens, Greece | 13-3 dual, 13-3 overall
- Sebastien Collard | Gr. – Gatineau, Quebec | 14-10 dual, 18-15 overall
- Max Sheldon | Jr. – Arlington Heights, Ill. | 15-6 dual, 22-9 overall
- David Saye | So. – Charlotte, N.C. | 12-7 dual, 13-7 overall
- Ozan Baris/Aristotelis Thanos | 5-0 dual, 5-0 overall, ITA #65
- Ronald Hohmann III/Taym Alazmeh | 3-3 dual, 3-3 overall
- Graydon Lair/Max Sheldon | 7-2 dual, 7-2 overall
Baris, Hohmann and Sheldon Selected to NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships
The NCAA announced Tuesday that three Spartans would represent Michigan State Men's Tennis in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in Stillwater, Okla. beginning May 20.
The ITA Fall National Champion pairing of sophom*oreOzan Barisand juniorMax Sheldonreturn to the NCAA Championships for the second time in as many years. Graduate studentRonald HohmannIII was selected to the NCAA Singles Championships for the third time in his career and Baris earns singles entry in back-to-back seasons.
This marks the first time in program history that the Spartans have sent three student-athletes to the NCAA Championships. Baris and Sheldon were at-large selections to the doubles field of 32 while Hohmann was an at-large and Baris an auto-qualifier for the singles field of 64.
Baris and Sheldon defeated the No. 1 seeded doubles team in the first round of last year's NCAA Championships but fell in the round of 16. The duo bounced back the next fall however, winning the ITA Fall National Championship in November and reaching as high as No. 1 in this season's ITA rankings, currently No. 16 with a 12-5 record.
In Hohmann's first season at MSU he is headed to the singles tournament for the third time in his career after earning entry twice while at LSU. The Oyster Bay, N.Y. native made it to the sweet 16 behind a pair of wins in 2022 after falling in the first round in 2021. Hohmann sits at 21-14, ranked 53rd, as high as a career-best 11th.
Last season, Baris became the first Spartan to ever win a match in both the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships and will look to repeat the feat this season. The Okemos, Mich. native earned automatic qualification as he was the top-ranked player in the Big Ten at No. 9, reaching as high as No. 4. Baris is 27-6, having won each of his last seven, going undefeated in B1G play.
The singles and doubles championships will take place May 20-25 at Oklahoma State University, after the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 16-19.
Four Spartans Earn Postseason Honors, Baris Named B1G Player of the Year
Four Michigan State Men's Tennis student-athletes received Big Ten postseason awards on April 25 headlined by conference first-teamers sophom*ore Ozan Baris, the Big Ten Player of the Year and Aristotelis Thanos, the B1G Freshman of the Year.
Graduate student Ronald Hohmann III earned second-team honors while senior Reed Crocker merited the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Baris, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season, becomes the first Spartan to be named Player of the Year since the award's inception in 1987.
For Thanos, the 23-year-old from Athens, Greece earns his first collegiate honors. Thanos is 13-3 as a Spartan, 5-1 in conference action and 5-0 when paired with Baris at the top doubles spot. He is 7-0 at the No. 3 singles slot and went on a team-high 11-match winning streak from Jan. 19 to April 7. The 2023 Davis Cup Greek National Team selection is the third Spartan to earn B1G Freshman of the Year and makes it consecutive seasons that an MSU player has collected the award.
Spartans in ITA DI Men's Tennis Rankings Update (May 2, 2024)
- No. 9 – Ozan Baris
- No. 53 – Ronald Hohmann III
- No. 119 – Graydon Lair
- No. 16 – Max Sheldon/Ozan Baris
- No. 65 – Ozan Baris/Aristotelis Thanos
- No. 72 – Sebastien Collard/Ronald Hohmann III
- No. 76 – Ronald Hohmann III/Ozan Baris
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