No. 6 Ohio State Men’s Tennis Returns Home to Face Purdue, No. 5 Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 30, 2006
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 6 Ohio State men’s tennis team (14-1) opens home Big Ten play when it welcomes Purdue at noon Saturday at the Stickney Tennis Center in Columbus. The Buckeyes return home after a six match road trip. The match against Purdue will be OSU’s first home match since defeating Wright State 7-0 Feb. 17. The Buckeyes have won their last two Big Ten home openers.
Also coming to Columbus this weekend is No. 5 Illinois. Ohio State last beat Illinois in Columbus during the 1992-93 season. The Buckeyes record ed a 6-1 victory. The last Ohio State victory over Illinois was a 4-2 decision in the 2001 Big Ten Tournament final in Madison, Wis.
START ME UP
At 14-1, Ohio State is off to its best start since the 2000-01 season. The Buckeyes won 17 of their first 18 matches during that campaign and finished with a 25-4 record. OSU’s 14-1 start this year includes a nine match win streak to start the season.
MOVIN’ ON UP
The Buckeyes’ No. 6 ranking is the highest reached by the program in school history. The previous high was No. 7, a spot OSU attained in the March 21 rankings this year.
The Buckeyes own wins vs. seven Top 50 teams this year. The lone loss was a 5-2 setback at No. 15 Notre Dame. Wins this year have come against No. 17 VCU (4-2), No. 19 LSU (6-1), No. 20 Kentucky (4-3), No. 24 Florida State (4-1), No. 33 Tennessee (5-2), No. 46 Minnesota (5-2), and No. 44 Oklahoma (6-1). The Buckeyes also own a victory vs. No. 56 Virginia Tech (6-1).
PURDUE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue is 6-9 on the year and 1-2 in the Big Ten. Five losses have come against teams ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Top 50. The Boilermakers lost to No. 47 Rice (6-1), No. 37 Texas Tech (6-1), No. 28 Notre Dame (6-1), No. 19 Kentucky (5-2), and No. 2 Illinois (6-1).
Purdue is led by Colin Foster. Foster has a record of 10-15 and is 5-7 from the No. 1 singles spot. P.J. Rose is 12-8 on the year. Patrick Rose and Eric Hodgman are the No. 31 doubles team in the country and have a record of 12-5.
BUCKEYES VS. BOILERMAKERS
Ohio State holds the edge over Purdue with a 63-18 record that includes a six-match win streak dating back to 1998-99. The last Boilermaker win over the Buckeyes (4-3) was during the 1998-99 season.
ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI
No. 5 Illinois has a 13-4 record and a 3-0 ledger in the Big Ten. The Illini have been ranked as high as No. 2 this season. Illinois currently rides an incredible 86 regular season conference match unbeaten streak. The Illini have not lost a regular season conference match since 1997. Their last loss to a conference opponent was to Ohio State in the final of the 2001 conference tournament by a 4-2 score.
The three Illinois losses this season were to No. 60 Texas A&M (4-1), No. 10 Texas (4-3), and No. 2 Georgia (4-3).
Illinois has posted numerous impressive victories thus far this season highlighted by its victory over then-No. 1 Virginia (5-2). The Illini boast eight victories over teams ranked in the ITA Top 50, which include wins over No. 46 USC (6-1), No. 46 Arkansas (4-0), No. 28 Notre Dame (7-0), No. 25 Clemson (7-0), No. 14 Washington (4-1), No. 9 Duke (6-1), No. 8 Florida (5-2), and No. 1 Virginia (5-2). The victory over No. 1 Virginia was the third victory over a team ranked No. 1 by the Illinois men’s tennis program.
Illinois is lead by Ryler DeHeart, The No. 3-ranked singles player in the country. DeHeart was selected as an All-American for the 2004-05 season and is the career singles wins leader for Illinois. DeHeart claimed his record-breaking 124th career singles win March 10 in a (4-3) loss to No. 10 Texas in Austin. He has a record of 27-4 this season. Illinois also has three other players ranked in the Top 100. Kevin Anderson is ranked No. 17, GD Jones is No. 41, and Ryan Rowe is No. 82.
In doubles, Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe are ranked No. 3 in the nation. Ken Skupski and Pramod Dabir are ranked No. 13, Ryler DeHeart and Reuben Gonzalez are ranked No. 25 and Pramod Dabir and Brandon Davis come in at No. 54.
OSU VS. ILLINOIS
The Illini hold the upper hand in head-to-head meetings with the Buckeyes. Illinois has a record of 26-53-1 against Ohio State. Illinois has a six-match win streak against OSU dating back to the 2000-01 season. Illinois defeated Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament final the last two seasons.
LAST TIME OUT
Then-No. 7 Ohio State opened Big Ten play with a pair of victories over Iowa (7-0) and Minnesota (5-2) March 24 and 26 respectively.
KLING-ING TO THE LEAD
Junior Chris Klingemann was named the Big Ten Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week for the week of March 29. It is the first weekly conference award for Klingemann, who is 15-5 on the year.
Klingemann piloted the Buckeyes’ shutout over Iowa March 24 with a three-set victory against Bart Van Monsjou. He followed that performance with an upset win over Minnesota’s 60th-ranked D.J. Geatz in three sets to clinch OSU’s second-consecutive league win last Sunday in Minneapolis.
In doubles competition, Klingemann claimed two more victories to improve to 17-5 on the year. He teamed with Devin Mullings at No. 3 doubles against the Hawkeyes to beat Christian Bierich and Aaron Schaechterle, 8-4. The OSU tandem moved up to No. 2 doubles against the Gophers and took care of Minnesota’s Adrien Debreyne and Raoul Schwark, 8-3.
STEVIE WONDER-FUL
Freshman Steven Moneke was named the Big Ten Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week for the week of March 6. It is the first weekly conference honor for Moneke, who is 12-5 on the year.
Moneke recorded the match-clinching victory for the Buckeyes at Florida State March 4 when he defeated Chris Westerhof, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 4 singles.
HOME SWEET HOME
Ohio State has won 36-consecutive home matches. The streak extends back to the 2003 season.
HEY MR. WILSON
Senior Ross Wilson is 15-5 in singles this season to give him 79 singles wins for his career. He passed Lior Rusinek, who played from 1980-83 for the Buckeyes, to claim sole possession of the No. 15 spot in the OSU all-time record book. The record setting win came when Wilson beat Notre Dame’s Barry King 4-6, 7-6, (8-6), 6-4 Feb. 24 in South Bend, Ind.
SEVERAL BUCKEYES MAKE MOVE IN OHIO STATE RECORD BOOK
Ross Wilson earned his 102nd doubles win Feb. 26 to become the Buckeyes’ all-time career leader. Wilson now has 105 career victories. Owning a 20-3 doubles record this year, Wilson has teamed with classmate Scott Green to compile a 19-2 mark. Green has 104 career wins to rank second all-time in OSU career doubles wins. Green is 24-3 this year with Wilson (19-2) and Dominic Ozanne (5-1).
DOUBLES RANKED NO. 2
The OSU tandem of seniors Scott Green and Ross Wilson are ranked No. 2 in the ITA Division I doubles polls released March 21. Green and Wilson are 13-1 in duals matches this season. The duo posted a fall tournament record of 6-1. Green and Wilson became only the third doubles team in NCAA history to win three national championships. The Buckeye combination claimed the 2004 Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships and both the 2004 and 2005 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. The back-to-back indoor titles are a first in the 27-year history of the event.
BUCKEYES IN THE RANKINGS
The Buckeyes have two ranked singles players in the Top 80. Bryan Koniecko is No. 75 nationally. Junior Devin Mullings is ranked No 76. Mullings has a record of 17-8, while Koniecko is 14-10 in his rookie season.
VS. THE BIG TEN
Ohio State is 299-357-2 vs. Big Ten Conference opponents. The Buckeyes have winning records against Iowa (26-21), Penn State (13-5) and Purdue (63-18).
