On the stadium courts, the Longhorns pushed the Buckeyes to the limit in doubles play. Ohio State claimed the first spot, but Texas countered by taking the second position. At the third spot, the Buckeyes? Peter Kobelt and Conor Smith were tied at 6-6 with the Longhorns? Sudanwa Sitaram and Daniel Whitehead. A missed overhead gave Sitaram and Whitehead a break for 7-6 and a chance to serve out the doubles point, but Kobelt and Smith played a solid return game to even the score at 7-7. The match eventually went into a tiebreak, where the servers struggled early on. The Ohio State duo tightened up their play in the second half of the tiebreak, taking it seven points to four.
The Buckeyes were able to carry over the momentum into singles action, claiming four first sets. At the fourth position, No. 99 in the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings Ille Van Engelen moved Ohio State one point closer to victory with a 6-0, 6-2 win. No. 12 Blaz Rola was next to complete his match, taking out No. 69 Daniel Whitehead 6-0, 6-3 at the second spot. It was No. 65 Devin McCarthy who would deliver the final point for the 4-0 sweep, defeating Chris Camillone 6-3, 6-2.
?The doubles point is important in every match,? Ohio State head coach Ty Tucker explained. ?We had some early momentum at No. 1 and No. 3, but gave it back at No. 3. Texas served for the match, maybe got a little tight, but we played a good game to break. We were able to play a good tiebreak in the end. In singles, we got out to some 3-0 leads, 4-0 leads. Our guys were able to breathe a little easier at that point.?
Calipari must be involved with the tennis program down there.
