No. 22 Michigan State men's tennis took on No. 68 North Alabama in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday. The Spartans dominated with a 4-0 sweep over the Lions.
The Spartans swiftly secured the doubles point with wins coming from brothers Mitchell and Max Sheldon as well as Danial Rakhamatullayev and Aristotellis Thanos.
Heading into singles matches with a 1-0 lead gave the Spartans the confidence they needed to put away their competition.
Max Sheldon secured the first singles point for MSU. With this win, Max Sheldon landed his name in the history books with 169 wins overall, making him the all-time winningest Spartan in MSU men's tennis history.
Following Sheldon's win, Rakhamatullayev and Mitchell Sheldon each took down their singles opponent with ease.
Michigan State's next matchup will be on Saturday, May 3rd at 2pm ET vs Mississippi State, the regional host and No. 12 overall seed, for a spot in the NCAA Super Regionals.
Mississippi State's associate head coach implored their fans to create a home court advantage Saturday afternoon.
The Michigan State vs Mississippi State matchup pairs up head coaches who are very familiar with each other. The Bulldogsā head coach Matt Roberts was an assistant at Michigan State from 2009-12 former MSU head coach Gene Orlando during head coach Harry Jadunās freshman season in East Lansing in 2012.
Friday's win marks Michigan State's second-straight NCAA Tournament first-round win after sweeping Denver in 2024 for MSU's first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
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