#24 Illinois Falls to Michigan State Away From Home

EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 24 Illinois dropped its road dual at Michigan State, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.

The Illini fell to 12-8 overall and 5-4 in Big Ten play, while the No. 31-ranked Spartans climbed to 13-7 overall and 8-2 in conference action.

The Spartans registered the doubles point via wins at No. 1 and 3, giving the home side a 1-0 edge heading into singles play. William Mroz and Zach Viiala were knotted at 4-4 in the unfinished contest at No. 2.

Michigan State used straight-set victories at No. 5 and 6 singles to extend their lead and move within one point of clinching the match. With each of the four remaining courts in progress in the third set, the Spartans ultimately closed out their team triumph at No. 3 singles.

In a top-30 battle on the top singles court, No. 16 Kenta Miyoshi battled No. 28 Aristotelis Thanos. With the sides tied at 4-4 in the first set, Miyoshi held serve in the ninth game before breaking in the tenth to take the opening frame, 6-4. The Spartan redshirt sophomore bounced back by winning the second set, 7-6(4), and the sides were even at 2-2 in the third frame, which ultimately went unfinished.

Playing his highest-ranked opponent of the spring thus far, No. 64 William Mroz faced off with No. 10 Ozan Baris at No. 2 singles. With both players holding serve through the first nine games, Mroz came through with a break in the 10th game to claim the opening frame, 6-4. The Illini redshirt junior got broken for the first time in the ninth game of the second set, and Baris served out the frame to force a third set. Mroz had multiple match points in the final frame but could not close it out, with the set entering into a tiebreak before going unfinished.

At No. 4 singles, Zach Viiala took on No. 91 Matthew Forbes in a battle of two underclassmen. The Spartan freshman secured the opening set, 7-5, but Viiala answered in the second frame, breaking in the fifth and ninth games to force a third set. The Illini redshirt freshman held a 6-5 advantage in the final frame before the Spartans clinched the match at No. 3 singles. 

RESULTS: NO. 31 MICHIGAN STATE 4, NO. 24 ILLINOIS 0  

Doubles
No. 1: Ozan Baris/Matthew Forbes (Michigan State) def. Tyler Bowers/Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), 6-2
No. 2: William Mroz/Zach Viiala (Illinois) vs. Vuk Radjenovic/Aristotelis Thanos (Michigan State), 4-4, unfinished
No. 3: Danial Rakhmatullayev/Max Sheldon (Michigan State) def. Mathis Debru/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 6-1 

Order of finish: 3, 1

Singles
No. 1: No. 16 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) vs. No. 28 Aristotelis Thanos (Michigan State), 6-4, 6-7(4), 2-2, unfinished
No. 2: No. 64 William Mroz (Illinois) vs. No. 10 Ozan Baris (Michigan State), 6-4, 4-6, 6-6, unfinished
No. 3:  No. 93 Max Sheldon (Michigan State) def. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 
No. 4: Zach Viiala (Illinois) vs. No. 91 Matthew Forbes (Michigan State), 5-7, 6-3, 6-5, unfinished
No. 5: Vuk Radjenovic (Michigan State) def. Mathis Debru (Illinois), 7-5, 6-2
No. 6: Mitchell Sheldon (Michigan State) def. Gabrielius Guzauskas (Illinois), 6-2, 6-1 

Order of finish: 6, 5, 3

NEXT UP

No. 24 Illinois returns to Champaign-Urbana for its final home matches of the regular season. The Fighting Illini will host No. 3 Ohio State on Friday at 6 p.m. CT before playing Penn State on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT on Senior Night.