No. 1 Buckeyes Ready for Top 15 Road Showdown
Ohio State travels to Lexington, Ky. to face No. 14 Kentucky at 2 p.m. Wednesday
Freshman Herkko Pollanen
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 1 Ohio State men's tennis team completes its three-match road trip at 2 p.m. Wednesday at No. 14 Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. The Buckeyes (23-2, 8-0 B1G) face the Wildcats (16-7, 8-2 SEC) for the second time this season, with Ohio State winning last time out in Columbus, 4-0, Feb. 7. Kentucky returns to the courts after earning a 4-2 win over No. 26 Vanderbilt, while Ohio State has won six-consecutive matches heading into the midweek non-conference match.
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The Buckeyes remain at No. 1 in the latest ITA rankings released Tuesday.
• The Buckeyes have been ranked in the ITA Top 10 for 263-consecutive matches (beginning March 7, 2006)
• Since 1999, Ohio State is 407-50 (.890) when ranked in the ITA Top 25.
• Ohio State won its first national team indoor title Feb. 17 with a 4-1 win over USC in Houston, Texas.
• Ohio State also has been victorious in 90-consecutive regular-season Big Ten matches, dating back to 2005.
• For the eighth-consecutive season, Ohio State was crowned the Big Ten regular-season champions and won the conference tournament title seven of the last eight seasons in 2013.
• With a 23-2 overall record, the Buckeyes own a 372-47 (.888) record as a Top 25 team since 2001.
• Redshirt junior Kevin Metka leads the Buckeyes with 25 singles wins followed by classmate Hunter Callahan with 24 victories and senior Peter Kobelt with 22 overall wins.
• In dual matches, Metka is 21-2, while Callahan and redshirt freshman Ralf Steinbach are 20-3.
• Kobelt has the top dual record at No. 1 singles (15-3).
• In doubles, Kobelt and Metka are 27-6 overall with a 9-3 mark vs. nationally-ranked pairs....
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Ohio State leads Kentucky, 16-12, in their all-time series. Guided under director of tennis and head coach Ty Tucker, the Buckeyes are undefeated vs. the Wildcats (11-0).
Last time out, the Scarlet and Gray downed the Wildcats, 4-0, in a home match to prepare for the ITA National Indoor Team Championships. Then-No.31 Kobelt downed then-No.68 Tom Jomby 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 to clinch the shutout. Redshirt junior Kevin Metka and Ralf Steinbach earned straight-set wins, where Steinbach also earned his first victory over a ranked opponent. In doubles, redshirt junior Hunter Callahan and freshman Herkko Pollanen and then-No.7 Kobelt and Metka earned tiebreaker victories to clinch the doubles point. Kentucky has three members in the latest ITA singles poll with Jomby leading the pack at No.11. Alejandro Gomez is No. 85 and Beck Pennington rounds out the trio at No. 90. In doubles, Jomby and Kevin Lai are the only pairing ranked, coming in at No. 31....
April 20, 2014
Big Ten Men's Tennis Tournament Bracket
ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference announced the seedings and bracket for the 2014 Big Ten Men’s Tennis Tournament on Sunday. With its win over Iowa on Friday, Ohio State claimed the outright conference title, its ninth consecutive Big Ten Championship, and the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The top-seeded Buckeyes closed the regular season with an 11-0 record in Big Ten play and a 27-3 overall mark. Ohio State receives a bye into the quarterfinals.
Illinois earns the second seed after finishing the regular season 9-2 in conference matches and 20-7 overall with Penn State (21-4, 8-3 Big Ten) claiming the third seed. Purdue follows as the No. 4 seed after earning a 7-4 mark in Big Ten play and 15-6 overall record. The Boilermakers own the head-to-head tiebreaker over fifth-seeded Northwestern (19-9, 7-4 Big Ten), which will face 12th-seeded Iowa (9-14, 1-10 Big Ten) in the first round, with the winner advancing to take on Purdue. The top four seeds in the tournament receive first-round byes and begin play in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Michigan (14-11, 6-5) earns the sixth seed and will take on No. 11 seed Wisconsin (9-15, 1-10 Big Ten), with the winner advancing to face the Nittany Lions in the quarterfinals. Wisconsin earned the No.11 seed over Iowa by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker. Minnesota (11-12, 5-6 Big Ten) claims the seventh seed based on the head-to-head tiebreaker with eighth-seeded Michigan State (11-13, 5-6 Big Ten). The Gophers will meet No. 10 seed Indiana (15-16, 3-8 Big Ten) in the first round with the winner advancing to take on the Illini. Meanwhile, the Spartans will face No. 9 seed Nebraska (12-14, 3-8 Big Ten) for the chance to meet the Buckeyes in quarterfinal action. The Cornhuskers earned the No. 9 seed by claiming the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Hoosiers.
The tournament is scheduled to begin on Thursday, with first-round matches starting at 10 a.m. ET at Michigan State’s Outdoor Tennis Courts. Friday’s quarterfinal matches also begin at 10 a.m., while Saturday will showcase the tournament semifinals starting at 10 a.m. Sunday’s championship match is scheduled for Noon.
BTN will air the championship match on Thursday, May 8, at 7 p.m. ET.
Di Feo has been ranked as high as No. 19 in junior world rankings
April 23, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ohio– Ty Tucker, director of tennis and head coach of the Ohio State men’s tennis team, announced Hugo Di Feo of Montreal, Canada, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Buckeyes beginning in 2014-15.
“Hugo Di Feo was a Top 20 ranked junior in the world who competed in all of the junior grand slams,” Tucker said. “We feel his skill and toughness on the court will improve our team immediately. He has played well on the professional circuit and earned some ATP points so he should be able to transition easily to the college game. I know a degree from Ohio State is very important to him and his family. The coaching staff is very excited about our future with Hugo.”
Di Feo, who ranked as high as No. 19 in the junior world rankings, has made several impressive runs in his prep career as he prepares for his arrival in Columbus next season:
- Has claimed 68 singles wins and 77 doubles wins in his juniors career
- Advanced to the Round of 16 of the Australian Junior Open in January of 2013
- Competed at the Junior Championships, Wimbledon in July of 2013
- Also competed at the Roland Garros, Junior French Championships in June of 2013
- Played in first junior grand slam at US Open Junior Championships in fall of 2012
- Has competed in more than 40 international junior tennis events in his career
- Gained experience this past year on professional circuit competing in several ITF Futures Tournaments
- Son of Giovanni Di Feo and Marie Cantin
- Started playing tennis at the age of six years old
