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Ohio State Men's Tennis (2014/2019/2024 ITA Indoor National Champs, 17 Straight B1G Titles)

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Recap of the NCAA single's tournament from the OSU Tennis Site

Blaz Rola, a freshman on the Ohio State men?s tennis team, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division I Men?s Tennis Singles championship Wednesday at Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif., following an opening-round win vs. No. 46 Ryan Thacher of Stanford. Rola, the fourth-ranked player in the nation, earned the No. 5 seed as the Big Ten?s automatic qualifier to the singles tournament.


?I knew it was going to be a tough match,? Rola said. ?Ryan is a really good player and has done great things at Stanford. I came in fully prepared for today?s match. We exchanged a lot of breaks and we played a good match, had good points. I?m really happy that I came through.?


Rola, who dropped the first set, 5-7, rebounded with 6-3 wins in the second and third sets. Holding serve to go up 5-3, the Buckeye from Ptuj, Slovenia, broke Thacher?s serve for the win. Rola, the 2011 ITA National Player to Watch, has 39 wins on the season (six losses), including a 14-2 record in tournament action. Rola will play the winner between Pepperdine?s Finn Tearney and Notre Dame?s Casey Watt.


Senior Matt Allare was eliminated from singles competition after dropping a 6-3, 7-5 decision to No. 41 Costin Paval of Oklahoma. For his singles career, Allare amassed a 116-20 record. His 116 victories places him seventh (tie) on Ohio State?s career singles wins list. A Mason, Ohio, native, Allare collected 36 wins vs. five losses in 2010-11 as a team captain. He also earned First Team All-Big Ten honors this season following an impressive Big Ten campaign in which he went 9-0. Additionally, Allare was an Ohio State Big Ten Medal of Honor finalist, an honor that is awarded to a student-athlete in the graduating class who has attained the greatest proficiency in both academics and athletics.


Allare will return to the courts Thursday with redshirt-freshman Peter Kobelt for the doubles championship. The Buckeye duo, ranked 21st in the nation, will face No. 1 seed John-Patrick Smith and Boris Conkic of Tennessee in the first round.


Rola and junior Chase Buchanan also will compete in the doubles championship Thursday. The 11th-ranked tandem will open up play vs. No. 25 Steve Johnson and Ray Sarmiento of USC.


Buchanan, the two-time Big Ten Athlete of the Year, lost 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 to Sarmiento in the singles championship Wednesday. The New Albany, Ohio, native wrapped up the singles portion of the 2010-11 season with a 34-7 record, bringing his career total to 76-17.


2011 NCAA Division I Men?s Tennis Singles Championship
May 25, 2011
Taube Tennis Center
Stanford, Calif.


No. 4 Blaz Rola (Ohio State) def. No. 46 Ryan Thacher (Stanford) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
No. 41 Costin Paval (Oklahoma) def. No. 50 Matt Allare (Ohio State) 6-3, 7-5
No. 47 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. No. 10 Chase Buchanan (Ohio State) 3-6, 7-6, 6-3
Click to expand...

Blaz Rola received a difficult draw, the #4 ranked player but received the # 5 seed, and then placed in the quarter with the #1 ranked player in the ITA.:(
First round draw vs. hometown favorite Thatcher of Stanford, but Rrole prevailed coming back after dropping the first set.
Buchanan seemed to loose his consistency in the 2nd breaker and it carried over into the 3rd.
I have never seen Allare as loose on serve as yesterday. Tucker also mentioned the team's inconsistent serving after the Bucks dropped the semifinal match vs. UVa. Don't know if it is a wind issue.
Would love to see the Buckeyes show strong in the doubles today, but Kobe and Allare face the #1 seed.
Buchanan and Rola face a talented USC pair Steve Johnson and Sarmiento.
Go Bucks!
 
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Rola won the first set 7-5 after many set points.
Blaz seems to be holding serve fairly easily, but can't quite deliver the knockout punch to break.
Come on Big Guy put the hammer down.

and Blaz breaks serve to go up 2-0 in the 2nd set.
 
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Recap of the Rola singles victory and the double's action from the OSU Tennis Site.

Following the second day of action at the 2011 NCAA Division I Singles and Doubles Men's Tennis Championships Thursday, Blaz Rola of Ohio State advanced to the third round of the singles championship and later teamed with Chase Buchanan to qualify for the second round of the doubles event. The championships are taking place at Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif.

Rola, the No. 5 seed and No. 4 in the nation, advanced to the round of 16 following his 7-5, 6-2 win vs. Finn Kearney of Pepperdine. In the sixth game, Rola went up a break to take a 4-2 lead. However, Kearney fought back to make the score 5-all and just when it appeared the first set was heading into a tiebreak, Rola answered with his second break of the set for the 7-5 win.
The Buckeye freshman from Slovenia then jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, but once again Kearney answered by winning two-consecutive games. However, Rola regained the momentum and took a 4-2 lead. Up 5-2 and Kearney serving, Rola ended the match with yet another break for the 6-2 second-set victory.

Thursday marked the first day of doubles action at the NCAA championships. Rola returned to the courts with Buchanan and the 11th-ranked tandem downed USC's Steve Johnson and Ray Sarmiento in straight sets 6-2, 7-5. With the win, Buchanan and Rola, the Big Ten Conference's automatic doubles selection, improved to 16-6 overall and 7-2 in tournament action. The Buckeye duo will next face the winner between Louisville's Austen Childs/Viktor Maksimcuk and Georgia's and fourth-seed Javier Garrapiz/Hernus Pieters.

Matt Allare and Peter Kobelt, ranked 21st in the nation, began play for the Buckeyes and drew a tough opponent in No. 1 John-Patrick Smith and Boris Conkic of Tennessee. Although the Buckeye tandem pushed Smith and Conkic to a first-set tiebreaker, they eventually fell, 7-6, before dropping the second set, 6-2.
With the loss, Allare concluded his Buckeye career. Already tied for seventh in the Ohio State career singles wins category with 116 victories, Allare wrapped up his time with the Scarlet and Gray with 105 career doubles wins, good for sixth-place all-time at Ohio State. Allare, a native of Mason, Ohio, also finished his Ohio State career with 221 singles and doubles wins combined, which places him fourth in program history.
For the season, Allare and Kobelt went 25-11 overall, including a 7-2 record in tournament play. In the fall of 2010, the duo won the Wilson/ITA regional championship before amassing an 18-9 dual record and 8-1 Big Ten Conference ledger.

2011 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles/Doubles Championships
May 26, 2011 Taube Tennis Center Stanford, Calif.
Singles
No. 4 Blaz Rola (Ohio State) def. Finn Kearney (Pepperdine) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
No. 11 Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola (Ohio State) def. No. 25 Ray Sarmiento/Steve Johnson (USC) 6-2, 7-5
No. 1 John-Patrick Smith/Boris Conkic (Tennessee) def. No. 21 Matt Allare/Peter Kobelt (Ohio State) 7-6, 6-2
Click to expand...

Rola plays Evan King of TSUN in the 3rd round, round of 16.
Blaz will have to be sharp vs. King--a quick crafty player.

In the round of 16 doubles, Rola and Buchanan will face Childs and Macksimuk from Louisville who upset the #4 seed from Gerogia. This section of the draw minus the 4 seed, looks favorable and even winnable for tOSU. Rola and Buchanan had a lot of positive energy, played highly aggressive doubles.
It would be exciting to see Blaz and Chase take a deep run and make some noise in the NCAA double's tournament.
 
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Rola with a 6-3 first set win over King.
Blaz seems to be in control of each point,
doesn't look like King has any weapons to hurt rola,
as long as Blaz does not beat himself with impatience or unforced errors.
 
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Rola up 2 breaks in the 2nd set at 3-0 on the changeover.

In other action #1 seed Steve Johnson of USC and J.P. Smith are locked in a battle.
Johnson did not receive a friendly draw for being a #1 seed and #1 ranked NCAA player facing Smith and potentially Rola in his quarter.
 
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