The Buckeyes enter this year’s quarterfinals, in which they’ll play No. 8 seed Columbia on Thursday at noon (ESPN+), with an added sense of urgency because of how many seniors they have. Five of the seven regulars in their lineup – Boulais, Cannon Kingsley, JJ Tracy, Robert Cash and Andrew Lutschaunig – are seniors, which means the Buckeyes will be breaking in a mostly new lineup next season.
Boulais, Cash and Kingsley are all fifth-year seniors while Lutschaunig is a sixth-year senior, and all of their careers would have ended last year if the 2020 season hadn’t been shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But they all chose to use their extra year of eligibility for one more shot at achieving their NCAA championship goals.
“We all came back for one reason,” Cash said. “Normally we wouldn't have the luxury of being here and playing this extra year. So we know what it means. We're all like-minded, have the same goal, and we're working our hardest to bring home a national title.”
Those seniors rank among the most accomplished players in program history. Cash is the program’s all-time leader in doubles wins. Kingsley is a three-time All-American. Tracy’s 225 combined singles and doubles wins rank seventh in Ohio State history. Lutschaunig won the NCAA doubles championship with partner James Trotter last year. Boulais has emerged as the team’s No. 1 singles player this season.
No matter what happens this week, their senior class will hold a special place in Ohio State history.
“I mean, every senior class is special,” Ohio State coach Ty Tucker said. “But you know, you've got Robert Cash from New Albany who's set the doubles record. You have Andrew Lutschaunig, who was an NCAA champion. You have J.J. Tracy, who could be, are there five better players than J.J. Tracy in the history of the program? Cannon Kingsley, I mean, national freshman of the year, three-time All-American. And Justin Boulais. I mean, those guys are great Buckeyes, and they'll be lifelong friends.”
“WE'VE BEEN IN THIS POSITION BEFORE, WE KNOW HOW DIFFICULT IT IS, BUT I TRULY BELIEVE THAT THIS YEAR WE CAN REALLY MAKE IT HAPPEN.”– JUSTIN BOULAIS ON COMPETING FOR AN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
At this point in the tournament, every team is capable of beating any other team, making the margin of error in each match slim. Tucker says his team needs to start by focusing on winning the doubles point in every match.
“If you get that doubles point, the Buckeyes are tough to beat,” Tucker said. “We lost the doubles point three times from the round of 16 through the final match at the National Indoors … so we were capable of taking four of six singles (matches), but you don't want to have to do that. You want to be able to go out there, split three out of six singles, grab your four points, and move on to the next round.”