Michigan State Men’s Tennis Aims for First-Round Win Over North Alabama in NCAA Tournament

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men's tennis is headed to Starkville, Mississippi, to face North Alabama in the Mississippi State Regional of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, May 2. The Spartans will take the court at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT in their opening-round match-up.

Fans can follow the tournament action live from Starkville with "Watch Live" and "Live Results" links available at MSUSpartans.com. For behind-the-scenes content and updates throughout the weekend, follow the Spartans on social media at @MSU_MTennis on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

This marks Michigan State's second-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its third appearance all-time. The Spartans' first appearance came in 2013, when current head coach Harry Jadun was a sophomore student-athlete. That year, MSU fell to Tulsa in the first round, finishing the season with a 14-14 record.

"We're excited to go down there and play teams that we haven't seen before. I think what makes us so dangerous is that we've got great players and depth to our lineup," said head coach Harry Jadun. "That gives us the opportunity to win in those top spots and at the bottom of the lineup, we can do a thousand things with different lineups with the team."

Last season, the Spartans secured their first NCAA Tournament win with a 4-0 sweep of Denver before falling to No. 12 Harvard, 0-4, in the second round.

"We came out last year and played hard against Denver so I think that if we can use that first round energy from last year, it will help us against North Alabama" said senior Max Sheldon, "With our potential, we could go all the way, we're just trying to put all the pieces together and take it one match at a time."

If Michigan State advances, they'll face the winner of the New Orleans vs. host and No. 12 overall seed Mississippi State on Saturday, May 3, at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT for a spot in the Super Regionals.

If it is an all-MSU match-up between Michigan State and Mississippi State, the respective head coaches are very familiar with each other, as Bulldogs' head coach Matt Roberts was an assistant at Michigan State from 2009-12 under legendary Spartan head coach Gene Orlando during Coach Jadun's freshman season in East Lansing in 2012.

Scouting North Alabama
North Alabama men's tennis team is entering the NCAA Tournament on a high note after an outstanding season. With a 19–3 overall record and an undefeated 8–0 run through the ASUN Conference as regular-season champions, the Lions are a formidable opponent. The Lions captured the 2025 ASUN Championship, defeating No. 2 seed Stetson, 4–1, in the final match.