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

[Bucknut24]

I love tennis season

 

[gracelhink]

Recap of the Buckeye victory over Pepperdine from the OSU Tennis site.

A two-hour rain delay pushed the start of the match between the No. 4 Ohio State men's tennis team vs. No. 11 Pepperdine to a 6 p.m. ET start, but the Buckeyes maintained focus and downed the Waves, 6-1, at the Ralph-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu, Calif. The match was the third of seven consecutive road contests for the Buckeyes in addition to being the first match back for the team after they enjoyed an 11-day break for following Winter Quarter Finals.
The match vs. Pepperdine, who entered the contest on a three-match win streak, was one of the tightest of the year. There were three third-set tiebreakers and four singles matches that took three sets to complete.
Junior Chase Buchanan defeated Finn Tearney at No. 1 7-5, 6-4 for his 60th career win to clinch the victory for the Buckeyes. Buchanan is 18-5 on the year, including marks of 13-2 in duals and 8-0 at the No. 1 position.
Ohio State (16-2, 1-0) moves to 3-1 on the road this season. . . .

In doubles play, Buckeyes senior co-captain Shuhei Uzawa and Buchanan paired up for the first time this season and quickly gave the Buckeyes an early doubles advantage by shutting out Sebastian Fanselow and Jenson Turner, 8-0, at No. 2.
Ohio State headed into singles action up 1-0 after freshman Blaz Rola and senior co-captain Balazs Novak clinched the doubles point after marching to an 8-4 triumph at No. 3 vs. Hugh Clarke and Alfredo Moreno. Novak and Rola are 2-0 this season as a tandem.
In a competitive match, senior co-captain Matt Allare and freshman Peter Kobelt, the nation's 14th-ranked duo, finished doubles action by downing Tearney and Alex Llompart, 8-6. Allare and Kobelt move to 8-4 at No. 1 and 15-5 overall.
The Buckeyes are 64-21 in doubles competition on the season.
In singles action, Allare built the Buckeye lead to 2-0 with a straight set 6-3, 6-4 win vs. Moreno at No. 4. With the victory, Allare, ranked 43rd nationally, picked up his 100th career singles win. His career record is now 100-18, while his season mark stands at 20-3 and 11-1 in duals. Allare is 8-0 when playing the No. 4 position.
Novak came back to down Pepperdine's Mousheg Hovhannisyan 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 to move to 19-3 on the year. Novak is 8-0 at the No. 5 position.
Redshirt-sophomore Devin McCarthy moved to 36-5 in his Buckeye career and 5-0 at the No. 6 spot on the season after handing David Sofaer a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 setback. McCarthy, ranked 46th in the nation, improves to 18-3 overall and 13-1 in dual action on the 2010-11 campaign.
In other singles play, freshman Ille Van Engelen lost a tight contest 1-6, 7-5, 6-7 to No. 66 Llompart. Rola, the fifth-ranked singles player in the country, finished the night with a hard-fought win vs. Fanselow, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.
Ohio State will continue its current series of road contests in Big Ten play at No. 74 Iowa at 3 p.m. ET March 25. The Buckeyes hold a 31-21 all-time advantage in the series, including wins in the last 11 meetings.
Tennis Match Results
No. 4 Ohio State 6, No. 11 Pepperdine 1
Mar 21, 2011 at Malibu, Calif.
(Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)

Singles
1. #19 Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. #49 Finn Tearney (PEP) 7-5, 6-4
2. #4 Blaz Rola (OSU) def. #17 Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2)
3. #66 Alex Llompart (PEP) def. Ille Van Engelen (OSU) 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4)
4. #43 Matt Allare (OSU) def. Alfredo Moreno (PEP) 6-3, 6-4, 3-3
5. #116 Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
6. #46 Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. David Sofaer (PEP) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)

Doubles
1. #14 Matt Allare/Peter Kobelt (OSU) def. Finn Tearney/Alex Llompart (PEP) 8-6
2. Chase Buchanan/Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Sebastian Fanselow/Jenson Turner (PEP) 8-0
3. Balazs Novak/Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Hugh Clarke/Alfredo Moreno (PEP) 8-4

Match Notes:
Ohio State 16-2; National ranking #4
Pepperdine 14-4; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,5,1,6,3,2)

 

[LitlBuck]

Mr. Tennis, I was wondering if you have any thoughts regarding the changes made to the doubles teams. I noticed that Buchanan played with Uzawa and Rola with Novak. I guess a couple thoughts would be is Coach Tucker trying to make 2 of his doubles teams better by splitting up is two best players or do the players that played at Pepperdine just play better together. I guess it will be interesting to see if those doubles teams stayed together or Buchanan and Rola go back together as a team.

The team will need to play well this weekend at Illinois if rankings mean anything

 

[gracelhink]

Mr. Tennis, I was wondering if you have any thoughts regarding the changes made to the doubles teams. I noticed that Buchanan played with Uzawa and Rola with Novak. I guess a couple thoughts would be is Coach Tucker trying to make 2 of his doubles teams better by splitting up is two best players or do the players that played at Pepperdine just play better together. I guess it will be interesting to see if those doubles teams stayed together or Buchanan and Rola go back together as a team.

The team will need to play well this weekend at Illinois if rankings mean anything

Litl, first off thanks for the generous title, but I am a has been on the tennis scene, :!
Your observation of the double's pairings from yesterday is quite astute!
I don't know whether Ty was so disatisfied with the results that he shook things up in frustration/desparation or whether he saw something or just felt an inclination to create some different looks.
Matt and Peter blend well together--they are difficult if not impossible to break and when they get up a break, it is as good as match over.
The pairings of Shuhei and Chase bring tons of experience, speed, quicks and craftiness to the court. Their performance at #2 yesterday was stellar! Very seldom do you see a bagel in a double's match unless their is a complete mismatch-- to break serve 4 straight times is an anomaly.
At #3 doubles if Blaz and Balazs continue, they will improve that spot tremendously. McCarthy is a strong baseline player, but in doubles the trend is toward power and control of the net.

Lastly, your observation re. Illinois is spot on. The winner of this match will invariably win the Big Ten regular season!
If OSU can take the Illini, it would factor some major computer points in the ITA rankings and eventual seeding in the NCAA national team championships.

 

[gracelhink]

The ITA released their Div. 1 computer rankings for March 22,
Virginia reclaimed the #1 position by a large margin and
tOSU dropped one spot to #5, but the point gap separating #2-6 is razor thin.
Yesterday's victory over #7 Pepperdine will be tallied next Tuesday and if coupled with a win over #10 Illinois on Sunday could give the Buckeyes enough points to jump to 3 or even 2!
Link

Rank. . . .Avg. . .School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Last Wk
1. . . . . . 90.96. .University of Virginia. . . . . . . 2
2. . . . . . 70.09. .University of Tennessee. . . . .1
3. . . . . . 69.29. .University of Southern Cal. . . 3
4. . . . . . 68.38. .University of Texas. . . . . . . . 6
5. . . . . . 66.98. .Ohio State University. . . . . . .4
6. . . . . . 66.43. .Texas A&M University. . . . . . .7
7. . . . . . 61.67. .Pepperdine. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8. . . . . . 60.91. .Stanford University. . . . . . . .12
9. . . . . . 60.82. .Duke University. . . . . . . . . . 10
10. . . . . 59.66. .University of Illinois. . . . . . . . 9
11. . . . . 58.70. .University of Georgia. . . . . . . 8
12. . . . . 57.33. .California. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
13. . . . . 54.17. .UCLA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
14. . . . . 53.55. .University of Kentucky. . . . . .14
15. . . . . 47.81. .North Carolina. . . . . . . . . . . 22

Other Big Ten schools showing up in the top 75 include:
#18 TSUN.
#22 Minnesota
#32 Indiana
#44 Michigan State
#66 Iowa
#67 Purdue
#70 Nrthwestern

 

[gracelhink]

Congratulations Blaz Rola on being named Big Ten athlete of the week.
Link

Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week
Blaz Rola, Ohio State
Fr. - Ptuj, Slovenia - Gimnazija Ptuj
Ohio State's Blaz Rola receives his first Big Ten Athlete of the Week honor after leading the fourth-ranked Buckeyes to a 6-1 decision against No. 11 Pepperdine. The fifth-ranked singles player in the country, Rola picked up a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) win over 17th-ranked Sebastian Fanselow at No. 2 singles to improve to 25-3 in singles play this season. He also teamed with Balazs Novak to take down Hugh Clarke and Alfredo Moreno at No. 3 doubles, helping Ohio State clinch the doubles point with an 8-4 victory.

 

[gracelhink]

Preview of this weekends action at Iowa and Illinois from the OSU Tennis Site.

The No. 5 Ohio State men's tennis team will continue its challenging March road schedule after downing No. 7 Pepperdine, 6-1, in Malibu, Calif., March 21. The Buckeyes (16-2, 1-0) will travel to Iowa City to take on the No. 66 Hawkeyes (6-5, 0-1) Friday before heading to Champaign to compete with the No. 11 Illini (9-6, 1-0) Sunday. The match at Iowa will take place at the Hawkeye Tennis Complex 3 p.m. ET Friday while the contest Sunday will begin at 1 p.m. from the Atkins Tennis Center.
The matches this weekend serve as the third and fourth of seven consecutive road contests for Ohio State. The Big Ten foes are also the third and fourth of nine contests in a row the Buckeyes will face opponents ranked in the ITA Top 75 poll (No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 70 Northwestern, No. 14 Kentucky, No. 44 Michigan State, No. 18 Michigan and No. 25 Notre Dame). Ohio State is 10-2 vs. ranked opponents on the season, including a perfect 6-0 mark in Columbus.
Additionally, the Scarlet and Gray are 9-0 as the No. 5 ranked team in the country.

Scouting the Hawkeyes
Iowa enters the contest with a 6-5 overall record and 0-1 mark in Big Ten competition. Iowa started the season slow losing three of its first four matches, but have since rebounded going 5-2 in its last seven contests. The Hawkeyes fell in their only Big Ten match on the season to No. 10 Illinois, 4-3, at home. Wins for Iowa have come against Creighton, Illinois State, Western Michigan, Drake, UCF and Florida Atlantic.
Buckeyes vs. Iowa
Ohio State is 31-21 all-time vs. the Hawkeyes. Since head coach Ty Tucker has guided the Buckeyes, the Scarlet and Gray have reeled off 12 consecutive wins vs. Iowa dating back to 1999. Tucker (12-0) has never lost to the Hawkeyes.
Last season No. 2 Ohio State downed No. 73 Iowa, 6-1, April 2, at the Hawkeye Tennis Recreation Complex in Iowa City. It was the 11th consecutive win for the Buckeyes who moved to 19-1 on the year and 3-0 in conference action. Sophomore Chase Buchanan, ranked 12th in the nation, claimed the victory for the Buckeyes with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Marc Bruche at No. 1 singles. No. 36 Justin Kronauge moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time career singles wins list with 133 victories with his 22nd win of the season. Balazs Novak and Matt Allare also picked up singles win for the Scarlet and Gray.
Previewing the Illini
As of Thursday, Illinois stands at 9-6 overall and 1-0 in conference play heading into action Sunday with the Buckeyes. No. 5 Ohio State and No. 10 Illinois are the two highest rated Big Ten teams in the latest ITA rankings. Hosting a challenging schedule, the Illini began the 2010-11 campaign 6-1 with wins coming against Denver, Notre Dame, Duke, Kentucky and Florida. The lone setback was vs. No. 2 Tennessee, 5-2. Since its hot start, Illinois is 3-4, including a 1-2 showing at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle, Wash. The Illini beat Texas A&M before falling to No. 1 Virginia and Texas in the next two contests. Their only conference win came against Iowa March 6, 4-3. Illinois enters play this weekend on a two-match losing streak, but host Penn State Friday.
Buckeyes vs. Illinois
The Scarlet and Gray are 37-54-1 vs. Illinois all-time. Ohio State has a record of 12-9 vs. Illinois since Tucker became head coach. All other Big Ten schools combined have only amassed eight total wins vs. the Buckeyes in the same time span. However, since 2005 Ohio State has won 10 of 11 vs. Illinois.
Last season, Ohio State defeated Illinois twice. The No. 5 Buckeyes downed No. 17 Illinois, 6-1, April 18 on Senior Day to give the Illini their first Big Ten loss of the 2010-11 campaign. Ohio State also handed the Illini a 4-1 loss May 2 in the Big Ten Tournament final. It was the fifth consecutive year the Buckeyes won the event.
Big Ten Best
Ohio State currently is on a 67 match win streak in the Big Ten after the victory at Penn State March 4. Entering the season, the Buckeyes have amassed five-consecutive Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles. Coach Tucker has also nabbed Big Ten Coach of the Year every year during the span as well.

 

[gracelhink]

The tOSU v. Iowa Hawkeye match will be played indoors because of weather in Iowa.
Doubles lineups are like Pepperdine, Kobelt & Allare at #1, Shuhei and Chase at #2, Novak and Rola at #3.
Fans can monitor the match coverage at 3pm available on Hawkeye Livestats

 

[gracelhink]

Buckeyes capture the double's point with all 3 pairs claiming victories.
The singles matches are up next.

 

[OSU_D/]

The ITA released their Div. 1 computer rankings for March 22,
Virginia reclaimed the #1 position by a large margin and
tOSU dropped one spot to #5, but the point gap separating #2-6 is razor thin.
Yesterday's victory over #7 Pepperdine will be tallied next Tuesday and if coupled with a win over #10 Illinois on Sunday could give the Buckeyes enough points to jump to 3 or even 2!

As long as OSU is on the other side of the bracket from UVA

 

[gracelhink]

Exactly, last year the left side of the bracket was loaded. I wanted tOSU get the #2 or #3 seed last year, but somehow texas was given more points by the computers and Longhorns were given the #3 spot.
Somehow this year (13-4) Longhorns are ranked above the (16-2) Buckeyes in the ITA rankings even though OSU claimed the head to head victory at the ITA indoors.
Last Year's Championship Bracket: Check out the Left side!
http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/tennis-men/d1/2010
#4 seed tOSU met #5 seed USC in the quarters and lost.
USC beat #1 seed UVa in the semis,
while #2 Tennessee had a walk through (facing the #15, #7 and #11 seeds in the 16's, quarters and semis respectively)
and in the finals UT Vols were defeated by USC.
Definitely helped UT to be the #2 on the right side of the bracket.

 

[gracelhink]

Buckeyes claim the 4th point and seal the victory at #66 Iowa.
Mc Carthy in straight sets 6-0,6-3 at #5, Rola in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 at #1, and Buchanan 6-1, 6-1 at #2.
Novak at #3, Allare at 4, and Vick at #6 are still battling.
:osu:

 

[gracelhink]

Recap of the victory over Iowa from the OSU Tennis Site

The No. 5 Ohio State men's tennis team downed Iowa, 5-2, Friday at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center in Iowa City to extend its Big Ten win streak to 68 dual matches, dating back to 2004. The match was the third of seven consecutive road contests for the Buckeyes, as well as the third contest of nine in a row the Scarlet and Gray face an opponent ranked in the ITA Top 75 poll.
Ohio State is now 11-2 vs. ranked teams on the season. The team also moves to 10-0 as the No. 5 ranked squad in the country. The Buckeyes have won 51 of their last 52 road contests, dating back to the 2005-06 season.
The Buckeyes (17-2, 2-0) are 32-21 all-time against the Hawkeyes (6-6, 0-2). Head coach Ty Tucker has guided Ohio State to 13 consecutive victories against Iowa. Tucker has never lost to the Hawkeyes since he became Ohio State's mentor in 1999.
Junior Chase Buchanan claimed the match-winning point at No. 2 singles against Nikita Zotov in straight-sets 6-1, 6-1. Buchanan moves to 19-5 overall and 14-2 in dual play on the season. He is 6-1 when playing at the No. 2 position.
In doubles action Ohio State easily claimed the point after sweeping all three matches. Buchanan and senior co-captain Shuhei Uzawa teamed up to win for the second match in a row at No. 2 by defeating Austen Kauss and Jonas Dierckx, 8-1. Matt Allare and Peter Kobelt, the No. 14 ranked duo in the nation, clinched the doubles point for the Buckeyes, beating Marc Bruche and Will Vasos, 8-5, at the No. 1 spot.
Rounding out doubles play, Buckeyes Balazs Novak and Blaz Rola handed Zotov and Garret Dunn an 8-6 setback at No. 3. Ohio State is 67-21 in doubles completion on the season.
Singles play began with Buckeyes winning the first four matches. Redshirt-sophomore Devin McCarthy grabbed the first Ohio State win at No. 5 by downing Dierckx, 6-0, 6-3. McCarthy now stands at an impressive 19-3 overall with a 14-1 tally in duals. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native is a perfect 6-0 at the No. 5 position.
Reigning Big Ten Athlete of the Week Blaz Rola gave Ohio State a 3-0 lead after finishing off Bruche, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 1. The freshman Buckeye leads the Scarlet and Gray with 26 overall wins. Rola, the fifth-ranked player nationally, is 13-1 in dual play and 5-1 at No. 1.
Allare, a senior co-captain, captured Ohio State's final point of the match, handing Kauss a 6-3, 6-4 straight-set defeat at No. 4 to earn his 101st career victory. Allare is an unblemished 9-0 at the No. 4 position for a 21-3 overall record.
Novak and freshman Nelson Vick both came up on the short end of their matches for the five-time defending Big Ten Champions. Novak fell to Vasos, 5-7, 6-1, 6-10, at No. 3. Vick had his 13-match win streak snapped, falling to Dunn, 6-2, 6-7, 2-10.
The Buckeyes are back in action Sunday as they continue Big Ten play at No. 10 Illinois. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET at the Atkins Tennis Center. Fans can follow the action with live updates at www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com. To access the updates, select the schedule tab from the men's tennis homepage.
Tennis Match Results
No. 5 Ohio State 5, No. 66 Iowa 2
Mar 25, 2011 at Iowa City, Iowa
(Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center)

Singles
1. #4 Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Marc Bruche (IOWA) 6-1, 6-4
2. #19 Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. Nikita Zotov (IOWA) 6-1, 6-1
3. Will Vasos (IOWA) def. #116 Balazs Novak (OSU) 7-5, 1-6, 10-6
4. #43 Matt Allare (OSU) def. Austen Kauss (IOWA) 6-3, 6-4
5 #46 Devin McCarthy def. Jonas Dierckx (IOWA) 6-0, 6-3
6. Garret Dunn (IOWA) def. Nelson Vick (OSU) 2-6, 7-6, 10-2

Doubles
1. #14 Matt Allare/Peter Kobelt (OSU) def. Marc Bruche / Will Vasos (IOWA) 8-5
2. Chase Buchanan/Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Austen Kauss / Jonas Dierckx (IOWA) 8-1
3. Balazs Novak/Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Nikita Zotov /Garret Dunn (IOWA) 8-6

Match Notes:
Ohio State 17-2; National ranking #5
Iowa 6-6; National ranking #66
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,1,2,4,3,6)

 

[gracelhink]

The top 2 teams of the Big Ten square off for the summit of the conference and most critical match of the B1G season in Champagne Urbana, today.

The #5 nationally ranked OSU Buckeyes (17-2) put their 68 match Big Ten winning streak on the line when they travel to face #10 ranked Illinois.

Buckeye fans can monitor the match online beginning at 1 pm today on Illini Livestats.

 

[gracelhink]

Buckeyes take the double's point at Champagne Urbana, with wins at #1 and #3! Woohoo.
Single's portion of the match starting.
Buckeye's will need to take 3 of these matches for the victory.
I am thinking, #2 Rola, #5 Novak, and #6 McCarthy are "must" wins.