BOSTON, Mass. – Michigan State Men's Tennis was bested by No. 12 Harvard, 4-0 in the Boston Regional final Friday, effectively ending the Spartans' historic dual season.
 
So concludes a season of program firsts and program bests for Michigan State Men's Tennis, namely an all-time high 23 wins and the first ever NCAA Tournament win, Friday in the first round against an undefeated Denver team.
 
The collegiate season is not over for three Spartans – sophomore Ozan Baris, graduate student Ronald Hohmann III and junior Max Sheldon – who will compete at the NCAA Championships for singles and doubles beginning May 20 in Stillwater, Okla..
 
Head Coach Harry Jadun
"I'm just proud of the guys, we battled hard," head coach Harry Jadun said. "We didn't have our best stuff today but Harvard played really well and in an NCAA Tournament you've got to bring your best. Doubles point was obviously highly contested and we had a bunch of match points across a couple courts and in singles they jumped out to a good lead and we were really just clawing to stay in it there. I'm proud of the guys, proud of the season we had, we went up against a good Harvard team who hopefully will continue their run."
 
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.
 
"We want to break some more records next year, do some things that haven't been done," Jadun continued. "But it just means a lot. You see the seniors that came in here during COVID and they're graduating; it's super special for them to leave this program in a better spot. I'm excited for what the future holds and hopefully this is just one step up the Mountain."
 
Match Recap
The Spartans came out hot in doubles play, claiming the first match of the day as Hohmann and freshman Taym Alazmeh combined for a 6-4 win at the second spot. In a back-and-forth affair dropped deuce points proved consequential for the No. 3 doubles team of Sheldon and senior Graydon Lair, who lost in a tiebreaker, 6-7 [4-7].
 
Up 5-3 and even 40-15, the undefeated duo of Baris and redshirt-freshman Aristotelis Thanos tried to close on the deciding No. 1 doubles match that would clinch MSU the day's first point.
 
The Crimson's 15^th-ranked duo not only overcame quadruple match point, but won the next four games to win the feature court affair 7-5 and Harvard instead jumped to the 1-0 lead.
 
The Spartans' doubles defeats were detrimental for momentum going into singles play. Quickly, Spartans fell behind in their first sets and strong second sets from Harvard's lineup ensued.
 
First it was Thanos, who was eliminated 4-6, 2-6 at No. 3 singles. Graduate student Sebastien Collard followed, falling 3-6, 2-6 on court four in what was the final collegiate tennis match of his career.
 
Down 3-0, the remaining Spartans fought for a lifeline and claimed multiple break points against their opponents in attempts to force third sets. It was too little too late, however, as sophomore David Saye fell at the sixth spot, 3-6, 4-6.
In his final collegiate match as a part of a team dual Hohmann was the lone Spartan to claim a set for the Spartans, as his ranked match at No. 2 singles would go unfinished with him ahead a serve at 6-3, 3-6, 3-2.
 
Match Results
No. 12 Harvard 4, No. 22 Michigan State 0
Singles
1. #15 Cooper Williams (HARV) vs. #9 Ozan Baris (MSU) 6-3, 5-5, unfinished
2. #66 Hvon der Schulenburg (HARV) vs. #53 Ronald Hohmann (MSU) 3-6, 6-3, 2-3, unfinished
3. Daniel Milavsky (HARV) def. Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Ronan Jachuck (HARV) def. Sebastien Collard (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Rohan Murali (HARV) vs. Max Sheldon (MSU) 7-5, 4-2, unfinished
6. Masato Perera (HARV) def. David Saye (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
 
Doubles
1. #19 Cooper Williams/Daniel Milavsky (HARV) def. #65 Ozan Baris/Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) 7-5
2. Ronald Hohmann/Taym Alazmeh (MSU) def. Ronan Jachuck/Melchior Delloye (HARV) 6-4
3. Alan Yim/Masato Perera (HARV) def. Graydon Lair/Max Sheldon (MSU) 7-6 (7-4)
 
Match Notes:
Michigan State 23-7; National ranking #22
Harvard 22-6; National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,4,6)