Ohio State
Texas
No. 8 Buckeyes Sneak Past No. 9 Texas 4-3 – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 13, 2015
RELATED INFO
- Results (PDF)
- 2015 Statistics
- 2015 Schedule
- Follow the Buckeyes on Facebook and Twitter
CHICAGO, Ill. – Same year, same story. Ohio State took on Texas for second-straight year in the ITA Indoor Team Championships and just like last year, the Buckeyes won a close match. This time, it was a back and forth 4-3 victory Friday afternoon.
The Buckeyes, who are the defending champions this weekend, advance to the quarterfinals and will take on top-ranked USC at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon at the Midtown Athletic Club.
Head coach Ty Tucker knew from last year that taking on Texas wasn’t going to be easy.
“We know Texas is going to fight. We know how good Texas is,” said Tucker. “We know how good everybody in this tournament is and we’re just happy to advance. We’re going to have to battle if we want to win any more matches, it’s always going to be a war.”
The Buckeyes opened the day by taking the critical doubles point. Ralf Steinbach and Kevin Metka bounced-back from a pair of losses in their last two matches with a 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles over Soren Hess-Olesen and Lloyd Glasspool. Hunter Callahan and Chris Diaz then fell 6-4 at the No. 2 doubles leaving the point up to Mikael Torpagaard and Herkko Pollanen at No. 3. Coming off a thrilling point-clinching win in a tie-breaker against USF last Sunday, Torpegaard and Pollanen did it again with another 7-6 victory.
Callahan continued his strong play with a 6-1, 6-2 singles victory to give the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead. Texas then evened the match with victories at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. That setup Steinbach at No. 4 singles who traded 6-2 victories with Nick Naumann in the first two sets. In the third set, Steinbach picked up a late break and claimed a pivotal point with a 7-5 victory.
Pollanen won the first set in his match with No. 65 Adrien Berkowicz but Berkowicz came back to win the next two sets to square the match again and leave things in the hands of Metka and John Mee at No. 6 singles.
Metka was in this position earlier this year at Texas A&M and fell late in the third set in the Buckeyes only loss of the season. This time, he rallied for a 7-5 victory in the third set to push the Bucks through to the second round.
Ohio State has beaten Texas the last two years at the ITA and it will look to make it two-straight over Southern Cal on Saturday. The Buckeyes knocked-off USC 4-1 in the championship match last season in Houston.
Ohio State 4, Texas 3
Singles competition
1. #16 Soren Hess-Olesen (TEXAS) def. #53 Chris Diaz (OSU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Lloyd Glasspool (TEXAS) def. #30 Mikal Torpegaard (OSU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
3. #65 Adrien Berkowicz (TEXAS) def. Herkko Pollanen (OSU) 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-2
4. #68 Ralf Steinbach (OSU) def. Nick Naumann (TEXAS) 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
5. #110 Hunter Callahan (OSU) def. George Goldhoff (TEXAS) 6-1, 6-2
6. Kevin Metka (OSU) def. John Mee (TEXAS) 5-7, 6-1, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #7 Ralf Steinbach/Kevin Metka (OSU) def. Soren Hess-Olesen/Lloyd Glasspool (TEXAS) 6-3
2. George Goldhoff/Adrien Berkowicz (TEXAS) def. #36 Hunter Callahan/Chris Diaz (OSU) 6-4
3. Mikal Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Michael Riechmann/Adrian Ortiz (TEXAS) 7-6
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,1,2,4,3,6)
