MALIBU, Calif. – Men’s Tennis improved to 4-0 with their second win in as many days on the road, taking down Pepperdine in a hard-fought 5-2 win on Monday afternoon.
“Coming outdoors to Malibu and getting two road wins against great teams is just a great start to our season,” Head Coach Harry Jadun said. “It says a lot about our guys to come out with some energy and sweep in doubles after dropping it yesterday and then step up in singles.”
MSU completes its first road trip of the season 2-0, having also beat UC Santa Barabara 5-2 in Malibu on Sunday afternoon while Pepperdine dropped to 1-1, having beaten a strong Georgia Tech team Sunday. The Spartans will return home for a stretch of five home matches beginning Friday, Feb. 2.
MSU was without freshman Aristotelis Thanos who after snagging two decisive wins Sunday against UC Santa Barbara Sunday, departed for his homeland Greece for the Davis Cup, known as the World Cup of tennis, where he will represent his native nation on Feb. 3-4.
Doubling up in Doubles
The Spartans got off to a strong start as the 45th ranked pairing of Sebastien Collard and Ronald Hohmann III would handle the Waves’ No. 1 doubles team ranked No. 43, 6-2, followed by a Graydon Lair and Max Sheldon 7-5 at No. 3 doubles to clinch the doubles point.
Sheldon Settles Score for Second Day in a Row
Pepperdine and Michigan State would exchange blows in the first four singles spots on the afternoon. No. 23 ranked Edward Winter took down the nation’s No. 12 Hohmann and the freshman Taym Alazmeh fell to Pepperdine’s Pietro Fellin, seeing the Waves go up 2-1.
No. 6 ranked Ozan Baris would even it at two-a-piece with a 6-3, 6-2 win shortly before graduate student Sebastien Collard reclaimed the lead with a straight set victory of his own.
The ITA’s No. 59 ranked Sheldon would then battle to a 7-5, 7-6 [8-6] win at the No. 5 singles spot, marking the second day in a row that Sheldon clinched Michigan State’s victory at 4-2.
Sophomore David Saye and the Waves’ Zach Stevens would play out the No. 6 singles match, which Saye was able to claim after a lengthy battle, 7-5, 5-7, (10-6), moving the final score to 5-2 for the visiting Spartans.
Still Perfect
While the Spartans start the season 4-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 season, seven Spartans remain undefeated in singles play and of the seven doubles teams that have notched wins, five are also yet to drop a set.
Collard leads the way for the deep MSU lineup, 4-0 in singles in his first season in the Green and White with a hand in a pair of wins in doubles so far in the campaign. The other grad transfer, Hohmann, moved to 3-0 in doubles play.
Full Michigan State Season Statistics
Results
Singles
1. #23 Winter,Edward (PEPP) def. #12 Ronald Hohmann (MSU) 6-0, 6-4
2. #6 Ozan Baris (MSU) def. Halldin,Linus (PEPP) 6-3, 6-2
3. Sebastien Collard (MSU) def. Papa,Christopher (PEPP) 7-5, 6-2
4. Fellin,Pietro (PEPP) def. Taym Alazmeh (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
5. #59 Max Sheldon (MSU) def. Homberg,Maxi (PEPP) 7-5, 7-6 [8-6]
6. David Saye (MSU) def. Stephens,Zach (PEPP) 7-5, 5-7, (10-6)
Doubles
1. #45 Sebastien Collard/Ronald Hohmann (MSU) def. #43 Winter,Edward/Homberg,Maxi (PEPP) 6-2
2. Fellin,Pietro/Halldin,Linus (PEPP) vs. Ozan Baris/Taym Alazmeh (MSU) 4-5, unfinished
3. Graydon Lair/Max Sheldon (MSU) def. Papa,Christopher/Davis,Tyler (PEPP) 7-5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,4,2,3,5,6)