Ohio State
Kentucky
No. 3 Buckeyes Survive No. 6 Kentucky with 4-3 Win at National Indoors – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 18, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The third-ranked Ohio State men’s tennis team remained unbeaten on the season (11-0) after posting an impressive, hard fought 4-3 victory over No. 6 Kentucky (10-1) in the quarterfinals of the 2012 National Team Indoor Championship. The Buckeyes will face the winner between No. 2 Virginia and No. 9 Stanford at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va. Virginia is serving as hosts of the prestigious event.
The match was pressure packed all the way to the end. After Kentucky tied the match at 3-3, Ille Van Engelen, ranked 99th nationally, came up with a huge 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win on court four over No. 79 Tom Jomby to secure Ohio State’s semifinal berth for the second-consecutive season. Van Engelen and Jomby’s match was the only one to reach three sets.
“That match had everything: injury timeouts, tight line calls, you name it,” said Ohio State head coach Ty Tucker. “We got lucky there at the end, and we were fortunate to win the match. Kentucky really beat us up at the top of the lineup. We had two assistant coaches on courts four-six, and they were able to pull the Buckeyes through today.”
Ohio State won its ninth-consecutive match vs. the Wildcats, handing Kentucky its first loss of the season, to take a 12-11 lead in the all-time series between the two schools. The Buckeyes will face Kentucky in their annual regular-season meeting next Saturday Feb. 25 for a rematch at 4 p.m.at the Varsity Tennis Center in Columbus.
In doubles, Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola, the nation’s top-ranked pair, won 8-5 on court one against No. 48 Eric Quigley and Panav Jha. Devin McCarthy and Van Engelen ensured Ohio State the doubles point after an 8-6 victory vs. Jomby and Anthony Rossi on court two. The Buckeyes have won the doubles point in all 11 matches this season.
“I thought we played well in doubles today. Doubles is an eight game pro set, so it really is just about what side of the bed you wake up on,” said Tucker. “Today Kentucky just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. We felt good because we had dropped the last two doubles points to them, and we know it is very difficult to beat any team three doubles points in a row.”
During singles competition, McCarthy, the 65th-ranked player nationally, downed Alejandro Gomez 6-2, 6-4 on court five to give the Buckeyes an early 2-0 lead. The lead wouldn’t last long however as Quigley, the sixth-ranked player in the country, defeated No. 12 Buchanan 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 1 position to cut the Ohio State lead in half.
Kentucky’s Rossi, who is ranked No. 13 in the nation, beat Peter Kobelt 6-2, 7-5 at No. 3 to even the match score at 2-2. Connor Smith would lift the Buckeyes back into the lead after beating Jha 6-4, 6-4 on court six.
Once again, the Wildcats would even the score, this time at 3-3, after No. 20 Alex Musialek beat No. 12 Rola 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles. However, Van Engelen would post the three-set victory on court four to clinch the Buckeyes’ toughest victory on the season.
Van Engelen quickly jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set looking as though it would be an easy win for the Eindhoven, Netherlands, native. However Jomby would break back and even the score at 4-4 in the final set. Each player won their next serve to tie the score again at 5-5, before Van Engelen broke Jomby’s serve to come away with the 7-5 victory.
With the win, the Buckeyes are 14-10 all-time in the tournament. This season is Ohio State’s 12th-consecutive participating in the event. Ohio State was the runner-up in 2007 and 2008 and advanced to the semifinals the previous two seasons. In 2009, the Scarlet and Gray played its way into the quarterfinals.
Break Points:
- The Buckeyes move to 12-11 all-time vs. Kentucky, having now won 9 in a row in the series.
- As the No. 3 ranked team nationally, Ohio State is 73-2.
- Ohio State has won 59 of its last 60 regular-season (non-tournament) road contests dating back to 2006.
- The Buckeyes have been victorious in 28 of their previous 29 matches (the only loss occurred in the 2011 NCAA semifinals vs. No. 1 Virginia).
- Since 2001, Ohio State is 256-36 when ranked in the ITA Top 25. That mark improves to 209-13 from the 2005-06 season onward.
- The Buckeyes have been ranked in the ITA Top 10 for 173-consecutive matches (beginning March 7, 2006).
- Ohio State has won 80 consecutive B1G conference matches.
ITA National Team Indoor Championship – Quarterfinals
No. 3 Ohio State (10-0), 4 vs. No. 6 Kentucky (10-1), 3
Feb. 18, 2012
Boar’s Head Sports Club
Charlottesville, Va.
Doubles
1. No. 1 Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola (OSU) def. No. 48 Eric Quigley/Panav Jha (KEN) 8-5
2. No. 27 Devin McCarthy/Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. Tom Jomby/Anthony Rossi (KEN) 8-6
3. Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith (OSU) vs. Alex Musialek/Alejandro Gomez (KEN) 7-4, unf.
Order of Finish: 1,2
Singles
1. No. 6 Eric Quigley (KEN) def. No. 16 Chase Buchanan (OSU) 6-4, 6-4
2. No. 20 Alex Musialek (KEN) def. No. 12 Blaz Rola (OSU) 6-2, 6-4
3. No. 13 Anthony Rossi (KEN) def. Peter Kobelt (OSU) 6-2, 7-5
4. No. 99 Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. No. 79 Tom Jomby (KEN) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
5. No. 65 Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. No. 87 Alejandro Gomez (KEN) 6-2, 6-4
6. No. 107 Connor Smith (OSU) def. No. 119 Panav Jha (KEN) 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5,1,3,6,2,4
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