Michigan State tennis duo wins first national title in school history – Lansing State Journal

SAN DIEGO — The Michigan State men’s tennis duo of junior Max Sheldon and sophomore Ozan Baris completed a historic run at the ITA Fall National Championships, winning the doubles event for the first national title in program history on Sunday.  “This really plants the Spartan flag on the national stage, and I think that a lot of people are starting to realize that Michigan State is for real,” MSU coach Harry Jadun said. “We’re just getting started, but I’m excited for the future and to see where this takes us.” Sheldon and Baris topped Old Dominion brothers Connor and Codie Van Schalkwyk in the title match, 7-5, 6-3. The Monarchs’ siblings were up 5-4, a game away from clinching the first set of the match, but the MSU pair bounced back to win the set. The Spartans would use that momentum to control the second set, never allowing the Old Dominion team to claim consecutive games before winning the match in straight sets.  Sheldon and Baris were resilient throughout the tournament, winning tiebreakers in each of the prior four rounds. “I’m just so proud of them for staying tough in big moments today and throughout the whole tournament,” Jadun said. “From the first match on Wednesday all the way to Sunday, they played at a really high level, and that’s what this tournament demands.” In the opening round of 32 Wednesday, the two split the first sets with South Florida’s Alvin Tudorica and Erik Grevelius, 6-1, 2-6. The Spartans claimed the first-to-10 tiebreaker set 10-5 to advance.  The following night, the duo outlasted Jeremie Casabon and Nathan Cox of Vanderbilt in a lengthy battle, 6-3, 6-7, 16-14. In the quarterfinals, they were victorious over Boston College’s JJ Bianchi and Jake Vassel, 7-6, 6-3. In the semifinals on Saturday, Sheldon and Baris again battled to a hard-fought tiebreaker victory in the first set and kept the upper hand in the second set, defeating Washington’s Cesar Bouchelaghem and Dzianis Zharyn, 7-6, 6-3.  The young duo made history before play had even begun at the Barnes Tennis Center on Wednesday. The two became the second MSU doubles team to earn entry into the ITA Fall National Championships since the Spartan pair of Francisco Trinidad and Ken Kigongo in 1998. At the beginning of April, Sheldon and Baris were tabbed by the ITA’s Preseason Poll as the No. 2 ranked doubles team in the nation after claiming ITA All-Americans honors last spring season.  Baris was also the first player in program history selected to the singles draw of the ITA Fall National Championships and claimed Michigan State’s first ever singles win in the tournament.  Baris, an Okemos native, ranked No. 25 in ITA’s singles poll, has claimed several top-25 victories over the fall, including a singles title at the highly-touted Battle in the Bay (Sep. 24) and a second-place finish at the ITA All-American Championships (Oct. 8). Baris, however, lost in the second round of nationals play in singles Thursday, falling to the highly-rated Radu Papoe of Cornell, 6-4, 6-3. With the men’s tennis fall season over, Baris, Sheldon and the other Spartans that played a hand in a historic preseason for the program, will await the ITA’s verdict in the post-fall update to the preseason rankings on Nov. 15.  — MSU Athletic Communications