The No. 3 Ohio State men's tennis team (22-2, 6-0 Big Ten) won its seventh consecutive match while extending its home win streak to 123 with a 6-1 victory over No. 23 Michigan (10-8, 3-3 Big Ten) in front of 345 fans Sunday at Stickney Tennis Center. The contest also served as the 72nd Big Ten win in a row for the Scarlet and Gray, dating back to 2004.
Buckeye
Devin McCarthy clinched the victory for the five-time defending Big Ten champions by defeating Chris Madden 6-2, 6-4. The redshirt-sophomore improves to 23-4 overall and 7-0 at the No. 6 position.
The win was head coach
Ty Tucker's 16th consecutive against the Maize and Blue. The Buckeyes move to 27-73-1 all-time vs. the Wolverines.
Ohio State improves to 59-2 as the No. 3 ranked team in the country and 13-0 at home on the season.
Doubles action started with the Buckeyes winning the first two matches, 8-2, to claim the point.
Blaz Rola and
Balazs Novak downed Madden and Chris Cha at No. 3 while
Chase Buchanan and
Shuhei Uzawa handed Shaun Bernstein and Barrett Franks the loss at No. 2 to give the Scarlet and Gray a 1-0 advantage heading into singles.
Rola and Novak moved to 5-0 in conference play and 6-1 overall. Buchanan and Uzawa also improved to 6-1 on the season and carry a 4-1 record in the Big Ten.
In a battle of Top 20 teams, senior co-captain
Matt Allare and redshirt-freshman
Peter Kobelt finished off the doubles sweep at No. 1 with another 8-2 decision against Jason Jung and Evan King, the nation's 19th-ranked duo. Allare and Kobelt, the 13th ranked tandem in the country, moved to 11-3 at the No. 1 position and 20-6 overall, including a 7-6 mark vs. ranked opponents.
Allare, a Mason, Ohio native, quickly won his singles match against Michigan's Franks 6-2, 6-1 to put Ohio State up 2-0. It was Allare's 14th consecutive singles victory. He is 13-0 at No. 4, 17-1 in duals and 26-3 overall.
Novak defeated Cha 6-0, 6-2 for his 19th dual victory. He improves to 10-0 at No. 5.
McCarthy's victory clinched the victory for Ohio State.
In other singles action, freshman Ille Van Engelen handed Bernstein a 6-2, 4-6, 10-2 super-tiebreaker setback to put the Buckeyes in front 5-0. Van Engelen moves to 14-5 on the season. Rola dropped a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 decision to No. 57 Jung in a competitive contest.
Buchanan also won a super-tiebreaker 4-6, 6-4, 10-7 against No. 21 King to conclude to match. Buchanan improves to 24-5 overall and 11-1 at No. 1. The junior is also 8-1 vs. nationally-ranked competition.
The Buckeyes will take a small break from conference play when they remain at home to take on Notre Dame at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Ohio State is 25-26 overall and 7-4 during the
Tucker era against Notre Dame.
Tennis Match Results
#3 Ohio State 6, #23 Michigan 1
April 10, 2011 at Columbus, Ohio
(Stickney Tennis Center)
Singles
1. #14
Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. #21 Evan King (MICH) 4-6, 6-4, 10-7
2. #57 Jason Jung (MICH) def. #3
Blaz Rola (OSU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
3. Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. Shaun Bernstein (MICH) 6-2, 4-6, 10-2
4. #41
Matt Allare (OSU) def. Barrett Franks (MICH) 6-2, 6-1
5. #98
Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Chris Cha (MICH) 6-0, 6-2
6. #53
Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. Chris Madden (MICH) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
1. #13
Peter Kobelt/
Matt Allare (OSU) def. #19 Jason Jung/Evan King (MICH) 8-2
2.
Chase Buchanan/
Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Shaun Bernstein/Barrett Franks (MICH) 8-2
3.
Blaz Rola/
Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Chris Madden/Chris Cha (MICH) 8-2
Match Notes:
Michigan 10-8; National ranking #23
Ohio State 22-2; National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,5,6,3,2,1)
Official: Vince Solomon T-3:12 A-345
