Spartan Men’s Tennis Punches Ticket to NCAA Tournament for Third-Consecutive Season

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State earned the Big Ten Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the B1G Tournament title, as the Spartans punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the third-consecutive season. MSU will take on North Carolina on Friday, May 1 at 11 a.m. ET, in Columbia, South Carolina, hosted by No. 13-seed South Carolina at the Carolina Tennis Center.

The Spartans will be joining North Carolina, Richmond and South Carolina in Columbia for the first and second rounds. Should the Spartans advance, they will face the winner of the Richmond/South Carolina match on Saturday, May 2 in the second round.

"We have somewhere to go. We have someone to hunt down now and yeah, it's just good to know what we have up next," senior Ozan Baris said. "We've just done really well the past few weeks, and we've ended the season strong. Really, the past few months have been really good. Just being in that position to carry the momentum forward is better than the contrary for sure."

Cue up the James Taylor cuz we've got Carolina In Our Mind!!

MSU will face North Carolina on Friday, May 1 in Columbia, South Carolina!!

Time & match details to follow later!!#GoGreen pic.twitter.com/hN0Z1RDk2H
— Michigan State Men's Tennis (@MSU_MTennis) April 27, 2026

MSU has two players who are from North Carolina, in senior David Saye, who is from Charlotte, and sophomore Matthew Forbes, who is from Raleigh. Forbes' older sister, Abbey, played women's tennis at UNC, and was a member of the Tar Heels' 2023 NCAA National Championship and 2024 ACC Championship teams.

"We have two players from North Carolina on our team, so it's a bit of a homecoming for those guys, so that's exciting for them," MSU head coach Harry Jadun said about playing North Carolina. "They've got a great team. You heard it on the broadcast that they kind of played their way into the NCAA Tournament, but honestly, they were very similar to us in the sense of a bit under-ranked throughout the season, and they kind of got hot there at the end, like we did. So, it'll be a great match. They have a historic program. I think they reached the final of the NCAA Tournament in 2019, so they've been there, and their coach is a legend in the coaching ranks. He's been there, done that, and it'll be a really fun one on Friday."

Being from the area, Forbes and Saye, have familiarity with two of the Spartans' possible foes.

"I mean, obviously North Carolina has a super young team, and a talented team. South Carolina is good as well," Forbes said. "All the teams in our region are good, so we're going to have to show up, play our best, and hopefully we get the job done."

Saye is excited about having the chance to get the job done in front of family and friends for both him and Forbes.

"It's definitely super exciting. I know a couple guys on the North Carolina team and the South Carolina team, so it's going to be good to see them," Saye said. "It's always nice to be able to have my family come out. Obviously, it's a pretty short drive for them, just an hour and a half, so it'll be cool to see some familiar faces."

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Michigan State Men's Tennis NCAA Tournament History
The Spartans have qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season and the fourth time in program history.

Their first appearance came in 2013, when current head coach Harry Jadun was a sophomore student-athlete playing for MSU. In 2013, Jadun and the Spartans fell to Tulsa in the first round, finishing the season with a 14-14 record.

In 2024, in Coach Jadun's first season at the helm, the Spartans earned a 4-0 first-round victory over Denver before falling to No. 12 Harvard in the second round, 4-0.

Last season, MSU swept North Alabama, 4-0, in the first round, before being defeated by No. 12 seed Mississippi State, 4-0, in the second round.

Scouting North Carolina
The Tar Heels have won four of their last six matches and have an overall record of 15-11, and posted a 6-7 record in Atlantic Coast Conference action. UNC won two of its final three regular-season matches, upsetting No. 42 Miami and No. 50 Florida State, both in 4-3 final scores, when the Tar Heels were No. 51 in the nation, before falling at No. 45 Duke, 4-1, in the regular-season finale, when UNC was No. 42.

UNC was the No. 11 seed in the ACC Championship, beating Virginia Tech, 4-0 in the opening round, then topped sixth-seeded Clemson, who was nationally ranked No. 32, in a tightly contested, 4-3, battle.

The Tar Heels then lost to third-seeded North Dame, who was No. 24 in the nation, in another close match-up, falling, 4-3.

North Carolina has earned a bid in 29 of the 31 NCAA Tournaments held during legendary head coach Sam Paul's 32-year tenure in Chapel Hill.

Look Back At The Spartans' Big Ten Tournament Title
Michigan State is fresh off winning its first Big Ten Tournament since 1967 this weekend, as the No. 1 seed, after winning a share of the Big Ten Regular-Season title, also MSU's first since 1967. The Spartans defeated No. 2 seed Ohio State in a marathon dramatic, 4-3, match on Saturday night. After starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, the match had several weather delays, and finished just before 3 a.m. ET, nearly seven hours after it began.

The spirited fans that waited out all the delays, witnessed the top-seeded Spartans knocking off the 3rd-seeded Buckeyes, who had won 14 of the last 19 B1G Tournament titles since 2006, and were making their 22nd-consecutive appearance in the final.

The last delay was at 12:10 a.m. ET with two matches still going, redshirt-senior Aristotelis Thanos at No. 1 singles and Forbes at No. 2 singles. When play resumed at approximately 2:30 a.m. ET after getting the courts dried following the latest rain stoppage, Thanos battled OSU's Aidan Kim tough, but fell 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5, which tied the team score at 3-3, setting up the drama on court 2 for all the marbles.

Forbes defeated Jack Anthrop in a thrilling three-set slugfest, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) to clinch the match, and the title, for the Spartans.

This is the second time this season the Spartans have defeated the Buckeyes. The first time they met this season was on March 15 when the Spartans came out victorious in Columbus for the first time since 1998 and ended the Buckeyes' 49-match conference win streak, dealing OSU its first conference home match since 2003.

Two Spartans On B1G Tournament All-Tourney Team
Michigan State men's tennis had two student-athletes earn All-Tournament honors following their performance at the Big Ten Tournament this past weekend, April 22-25, in Ojai, California in helping the Spartans win their first B1G Tournament title since 1967.

Senior Ozan Baris and Forbes were both named to the All-Tournament team. Forbes also collected the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award.

Baris and Forbes were partnered for doubles action throughout the tournament. The duo went 3-0 in doubles matches on the weekend, dominating the competition at No. 1 doubles.

Fans can follow Friday's action from Columbia with "Watch Live" and "Live Results" links at MSUSpartans.com, and can keep up to date with the Spartan men's tennis team on Facebook, Instagram and X/Twitter by following @MSU_MTennis.