Michigan State men's tennis to face North Carolina in NCAA tournament opener

{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/michigan-state-mens-tennis-face-010335552.html","headline":"Michigan State men's tennis to face North Carolina in NCAA tournament opener","datePublished":"2026-04-28T01:03:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-28T01:03:35.000Z","keywords":["Columbia, South Carolina","Ohio State","NCAA","North Carolina","Michigan State","men’s tennis team","Tar Heels"],"description":"Fresh off winning Big Ten regular season and tournament championships, the Spartans begin their NCAA tournament road against the Tar Heels.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo Sports","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/cv/apiv2/default/icons/favicon_y112_112.png","width":112,"height":112},"url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Graham Couch, Lansing State Journal","url":"","jobTitle":""},"creator":{"@type":"Person","name":"Graham Couch, Lansing State Journal","url":"","jobTitle":""},"provider":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Lansing State Journal","url":"https://www.lansingstatejournal.com"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/xFLN5Y9L0w1A9Q4shEz6DA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0xNjM2O2NmPXdlYnA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/lansing-state-journal/661afe95870755fd5cb4e3f414d882d8","height":818,"width":1200},"thumbnailUrl":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/xFLN5Y9L0w1A9Q4shEz6DA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0xNjM2O2NmPXdlYnA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/lansing-state-journal/661afe95870755fd5cb4e3f414d882d8"}Story byLansing State JournalMichigan State men's tennis to face North Carolina in NCAA tournament openerMSU and Ozan Baris are headed to their third straight NCAA tournament.Graham Couch, Lansing State JournalTue, April 28, 2026 at 1:03 AM UTC·2 min readEAST LANSING — Short on sleep, but high on life following an epic Big Ten tournament championship win over Ohio State — which finished after midnight Saturday in California — Michigan State’s men’s tennis team learned Monday it’ll be close to the other coast when it begins NCAA tournament play this Friday.The Spartans face North Carolina in the first round at 11 a.m. Friday in Columbia, South Carolina, home of the 13th-seeded Gamecocks, whom the Spartans would likely face in the second round if they get past the Tar Heels on Friday. South Carolina plays Richmond in the first round on Friday.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_33iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: none; } @media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) { #_R_33iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: flex; } iframe { max-width: 100vw; } }“We have somewhere to go. We have someone to hunt down now. It’s just good to get to know what we have coming next,” MSU senior Ozan Baris said.The Spartans had an outside shot at one of the top 16 seeds after winning both the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships, but an 0-5 start to the season in non-conference play early last winter meant they’ll have to start on the road.“A lot of that was self-inflicted in terms of how we played in the non-conference season, and then also just a lot of injuries that we dealt with throughout non-conference,” MSU coach Harry Jadun said, after his program earned its third straight trip to the NCAA tournament. “But we know we've got a win over the No. 1 team in the country on the road, a couple other top 10 wins, as well, so we know we can go toe to toe with anyone. But it's going…

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