Ohio State
Georgia
No. 2 Ohio State Falls 4-3 at No. 4 Georgia – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/21/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 21, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a match between Top 5 teams, the six-time defending Big Ten champion and No. 2 Ohio State men’s tennis team (19-2; 2-0 Big Ten) lost 4-3 to fourth-ranked Georgia (14-1) Wednesday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The match was loaded with talent, with four of the six doubles teams and all 10 players competing at Nos. 1-5 singles ranked in the latest ITA individual rankings.
After the Bulldogs evened the match at 3-3, all eyes were cast upon the No. 3 singles match between Ohio State’s Peter Kobelt, the 46th-ranked player nationally, and 20th-ranked Sadio Doumbia of Georgia. Doumbia won the first set 6-3 before Kobelt won a tiebreaker to claim the second set 7-6. With the match on the line, Doumbia played his best tennis of the evening, beating Kobelt 6-1 in the third stanza to earn the 4-3 win for the home Bulldogs.
The Buckeyes move to 11-2 vs. teams ranked in the ITA Top 30, including a 3-2 mark against teams in the Top 10. Ohio State’s only previous loss was a 4-3 decision to No. 1 USC in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Prior to its win vs. the Buckeyes, Georgia’s lone defeat was a 4-1 setback, also at the hands of the Trojans.
Prior to the loss Wednesday, head coach Ty Tucker and the Buckeyes won three consecutive matches vs. Georgia.
The Scarlet and Gray earned their 20th doubles point out of 21 chances with victories on courts one and three vs. the Bulldogs.
Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola, the nation’s top-ranked collegiate tandem, won their 22nd doubles match of the year after an 8-3 triumph on court one vs. the nation’s 31st-ranked duo of Ignacio Taboada and Hernus Pieters. The Buckeye pair’s seventh-consecutive win give them a 9-1 record vs. ranked opponents.
Competing on court three for only the second time this season, Ille Van Engelen and Devin McCarthy, ranked 39th nationally, downed Georgia’s Wil Spencer and KU Singh 8-6 for their 22nd win as a team, claiming the doubles point for the visiting Buckeyes.
Peter Kobelt and Connor Smith fell at No. 2 doubles to No. 52 Doumbia and Nathan Pasha 9-7. It was only the second loss for the pair all season, snapping their four match win streak.
Rola extended Ohio State’s lead to 2-0 with his ninth-consecutive victory at No. 1 singles. Rola, ranked sixth nationally, beat eighth-ranked Spencer 6-3, 6-2 for his 23rd singles win, a team high. The sophomore is 5-0 on court one and 11-2 vs. ranked opponents.
Georgia split the Buckeye lead in half after Singh, ranked 50th-nationally, handed No. 12 Buchanan his first loss in five matches with a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles. Toboada, ranked No. 29, evened the match with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Van Engelen at No. 4 singles.
The Bulldogs would tie the match once again at 3-3 after Pasha won in three sets 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, vs. Smith at No. 6 singles. The loss was only the third singles defeat for Smith all season. Doumbia’s three-set win at No. 3 singles against Kobelt soon followed to give Georgia the huge non-conference victory.
Up next, Ohio State will resume Big Ten action at noon, Sunday in Bloomington against the 21st-ranked Indiana Hoosiers. The Buckeyes will look to extend their conference win streak to 82 consecutive matches.
Break Points:
- As the No. 2 team nationally, Ohio State is 64-5.
- Ohio State has won 61 of its last 63 regular-season (non-tournament) road contests dating back to 2006.
- The Scarlet and Gray have won 20 of 21 doubles points this season.
- The Buckeyes have been victorious in 36 of their previous 39 matches.
- Ohio State has won 140 consecutive home matches in Columbus.
- Since 2001, Ohio State is 264-38 when ranked in the ITA Top 25. That percentage moves to 217-15 from the 2005-06 season onward.
- The Buckeyes have been ranked in the ITA Top 10 for 183 consecutive matches (beginning March 7, 2006).
- Ohio State has won 81 consecutive Big Ten Conference matches.
Tennis Match Results
No. 4 Georgia 4, No. 2 Ohio State 3
March 21, 2012 at Athens, Ga.
(Dan Magill Tennis Complex)
Singles
1. #6 Blaz Rola (OSU) def. #8 Wil Spencer (UGA) 6-3, 6-2
2. #50 KU Singh (UGA) def. #12 Chase Buchanan (OSU) 7-5, 6-4
3. #20 Sadio Doumbia (UGA) def. #46 Peter Kobelt (OSU) 6-3, 6-7, 6-1
4. #29 Ignacio Taboada (UGA) def. #107 Ille Van Engelen (OSU) 6-2, 7-6
5. #79 Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. #70 Hernus Pieters (UGA) 7-6, 6-2
6. Nathan Pasha (UGA) def. Connor Smith (OSU) def. 7-6, 3-6, 6-4
Doubles
1. #1 Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola (OSU) def. #31 Ignacio Taboada/Hernus Pieters (UGA) 8-3
2. #52 Sadio Doumbia/Nathan Pasha (UGA) def. Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith (OSU) 9-7
3. #39 Devin McCarthy/Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. Wil Spencer/KU Singh(UGA) 8-6
Match Notes:
Ohio State 19-2; National ranking #2
Georgia 14-1; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,2,4,5,6,3)
