EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 18 Men's Tennis reached the 15-win mark with a 5-2 win over No. 53 Nebraska to open Big Ten play Friday night at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.
 
The win puts the Spartans back in the win column and at 15-3 overall, 1-0 in the B1G, after having dropped consecutive matches including one at home for the first time this season.
 
MSU got going fast, sweeping the doubles point to start the afternoon. Junior Max Sheldon and graduate student Ronald Hohmann III paired up for the first time and were triumphant 6-4. Sophomore Ozan Baris and grad student Graydon Lair also teamed for the first time this season, getting a ranked win over Nebraska's No. 79 nationally-ranked duo.
 
The Cornhuskers would strike first in singles play however, evening the score with a point on court three. It was national No. 11 Baris who answered, claiming a cool 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles to put MSU back on top. The Huskers struck back, taking the point on court two.
 
It was the younger Spartans that got the job done in singles. First, sophomore David Saye was victorious at No. 4 singles in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4. Sheldon followed to clinch the victory for MSU with a sweep on court five, 6-4, 6-4, tying the team lead with 10 wins on the season.
 
With the dual already decided, freshman Taym Alazmeh played out his match on court 6, coming back to win 4-6, 6-1 [10-8] in a tiebreaker.
 
Next, the Spartans will face Wisconsin within the home comforts of the MSU Indoor Tennis Center on Sunday, March 24, at noon.
 
Scouting Wisconsin
Wisconsin holds a season record of 1-12 and has won just 22 of 90 team points played. The Badgers play at No. 43 Michigan on Friday prior to coming up the road to East Lansing for Sunday's match.
 
The Badgers are represented in the ITA Rankings by senior Mihailo Popovic and sophomore Michael Minasyan who pair up to make the 72^nd-ranked doubles pairing.
 
Series History vs. Wisconsin
The Badgers hold a 37-44 all-time series lead over the Spartans, while MSU could even up the record between the two sides in East Lansing, which currently stands at 19-20. Michigan State will look to snap an eight-match losing streak against Wisconsin, last having come out on top on April 11, 2014.

Results
No. 18 Michigan State 5 (15-3), No. 53 Nebraska 2 (10-6)

Doubles
1. Ozan Baris/Graydon Lair (MSU) def. #79 Nic Wiedenhorn/Anton Shepp (NEB) 6-4
2. Max Sheldon/Ronald Hohmann (MSU) def. Calvin Mueller/Lars Johann (NEB) 6-4
3. Taym Alazmeh/Sebastien Collard (MSU) vs. Nikolay Sysoev/Leo Linquet (NEB) 5-5, unfinished

Singles
1. #11 Ozan Baris (MSU) def. Anton Shepp (NEB) 6-3, 6-2
2. Calvin Mueller (NEB) def. #34 Ronald Hohmann (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Lars Johann (NEB) def. Sebastien Collard (MSU) 6-1, 6-3
4. David Saye (MSU) def. Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) 6-0, 6-4
5. Max Sheldon (MSU) def. Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) 6-4, 6-4
6. Taym Alazmeh (MSU) def. Rudi Christiansen (NEB) 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-8)
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,1,2,4,5,6)