Ohio State
Michigan State University
No. 1 Buckeyes Drop Match Against Michigan State
3/15/2026 3:47:00 PM | Men's Tennis
COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 1 Ohio State was defeated by No. 46 Michigan State 4-3 for its first Big Ten loss of the season Sunday at the Auer Tennis Complex.
The Buckeyes took the doubles point after a 11-9 tiebreaker on court three. In singles, Michigan State grabbed four wins on courts one, two, four and five to defeat Ohio State.
Ohio State drops to 14-3 on the season and 2-1 in the Big Ten, it was the first regular season home Big Ten loss since 2003.
The Buckeyes will look to bounce back on a three-game road trip against No. 11 Texas A&M (March 18 at 7 p.m.), Indiana (March 20 at 6 p.m.) and Purdue (March 22 at noon).
Doubles
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Each court was knotted up 3-3 before Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin won three-consecutive games, defeating No. 23 Taym Alazmeh and Danial Rakhmatullayev 6-3.
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On court two, Alexander Bernard and Alex Okonkwo were tied 4-4 before Michigan State pulled ahead to win 6-4, putting the score at 1-all.
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Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima battled on court three. The match went to a 6-6 tiebreaker that saw Kim and Nakashima winning the first four points, Michigan State came back to and tied it at 6-6. The match extended to 9-9 before the Buckeyes clinched the doubles point with back-to-back wins, earning a 11-9 tiebreaker victory.
Singles
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Nikita Filin earned the first singles win with a quick 6-1, 6-2 victory on court six.
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Michigan State got out to 4-0 leads in the first set on courts one, two and four.
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Loren Byers was defeated on court four in two straight sets, putting the Spartans on the board.
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On court two, Aidan Kim dropped his match against Aristotelis Thanos, tying the match at 2-all.
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In a close match on court five, the Spartans grabbed their first lead of the day after Bryce Nakashima lost 6-4, 6-4.
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With the game on the line, Jack Anthrop forced a third set after a 6-1 second set. The Spartans clinched the win as Anthrop was downed 6-3 in the last set.
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On court three, No. 19 Preston Stearns and No. 25 Ozan Baris played their match out and had tiebreakers in their first two sets. Stearns took the first one and Baris took the second, in the last tiebreaker Stearns defeated Baris 10-5 as Michigan State defeated Ohio State 4-3.
#46 Michigan State 4, #1 Ohio State 3
Singles
1. #11 Matthew Forbes (MSU) def. #22 Jack Anthrop (OSU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
2. Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. #6 Aidan Kim (OSU) 6-0, 6-2
3. #19 Preston Stearns (OSU) def. #25 Ozan Baris (MSU) 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 10-5
4. Taym Alazmeh (MSU) def. Loren Byers (OSU) 6-0, 6-3
5. Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) def. #124 Bryce Nakashima (OSU) 6-4, 6-4
6. #93 Nikita Filin (OSU) def. Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
1. #1 Brandon Carpico/Nikita Filin (OSU) def. #23 Taym Alazmeh/Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) 6-3
2. Mitchell Sheldon/Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. #15 Alexander Bernard/Alex Okonkwo (OSU) 6-4
3. #18 Aidan Kim/Bryce Nakashima (OSU) def. Ozan Baris/Matthew Forbes (MSU) 7-6(9)
Match Notes:
Michigan State 7-7, 3-1 Big Ten; National ranking #46
Ohio State 14-3, 2-1 Big Ten; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,4,2,5,1,3)
Official: Julio Colon T-3:35 A-378
#GoBucks
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
6,4,2,5,1,3
Players Mentioned
