Road Test in East Lansing

Vanderbilt men's tennis faces away litmus test in No. 23 Michigan State

NASHVILLE, Tenn. —  Vanderbilt men’s tennis travels to East Lansing, Michigan for a road matchup against No. 23 Michigan State on Sunday.

Vanderbilt (2-0) opened up its spring season on Thursday with home doubleheader victories, a 5-0 decision over Alabama A&M and a 7-0 sweep against Tennessee Tech. The Dores visit the Spartans just two days after Michigan State (1-0) took down No. 7 Kentucky 5-2 in its home season opener. The win marked Michigan State’s highest ranked victory in program history.

Vandy enters Sunday’s contest with a lone Commodore inside the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national rankings: senior Nathan Cox sits at No. 100 in singles. Michigan State, however, brings four ranked singles players and four ranked doubles pairs into the matchup. Three Spartans currently sit within the top 50 singles rankings: Ozan Baris at No. 8, Aristotelis Thanos at No. 27 and Matthew Forbes at No. 40.

The Dores possess a 6-5 all-time record in dual matches versus the Spartans. Vanderbilt’s last victory over Michigan State came nearly six years ago, a 6-1 result on Feb. 10, 2019. The last ranked win for Vandy was a 4-3 road triumph over No. 19 South Carolina last season.

Vanderbilt and Michigan State are set to begin at 11 a.m. Live streaming is available online, with live stats available here at the start of the match. For more information, updates, and exclusive game day content, follow the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team, @VandyMTennis, on Instagram and X.