Ohio State
Michigan (Final)
Ohio State Falls to Michigan, 4-0, in B1G Tournament Championship – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 26, 2015
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?COLUMBUS, Ohio — With the program’s first Big Ten Tournament title on the line, the No. 2 seed Ohio State women’s tennis team fell to No. 1 seed Michigan, 4-0, Sunday afternoon at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill. After two tough losses in doubles competition, the No. 18-ranked Buckeyes dropped three singles matches to ranked Michigan opponents. With the win, No. 12-ranked Michigan (24-3) earns the Big Ten’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, while the Buckeyes fall to 20-6 overall this spring.
The championship match marked Ohio State’s second appearance in the Big Ten Tournament title match and the first for the Buckeyes since 2004. The match will be televised by BTN at 7:30 p.m. ET May 12.
“It was a really tough match for us today,” head coach Melissa Schaub said. “Michigan came out and played really well. We gave it our best shot but came up short. Ultimately, I am so proud of this team and what we have achieved this year. We will start to prepare for the NCAA Tournament and look to rebound quickly.”
The Scarlet and Gray now await a potential at-large bid into the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The 64-team bracket and host sites will be revealed at 5 p.m. Tuesday on the NCAA.com Selection Show. Teams advancing through the first and second rounds will move on to the NCAA Championships May 14-25 in Waco, Texas.
Doubles went down to the wire as the Buckeyes forced tiebreakers on courts one and three vs. the Wolverines. The freshman duo of Anna Sanford and Olivia Sneed was locked in a back-and-forth battle with Michigan’s Mira Ruder-Hook and Sara Remynse on court three. The Buckeye duo knotted the score at 7-all before claiming a 7-4 tiebreaker victory in the first doubles decision of the match. The 48th-ranked tandem of Sandy Niehaus and Gabriella De Santis crafted quite the comeback on court one vs. No. 19 Emina Bektas and Alex Najarian. The Buckeye duo rallied from a 6-2 deficit to tie the score at 7-7. The sophomores, however, were unable to close out the match and fell in the tiebreaker, 9-7.
All eyes turned to court two where sophomores Miho Kowase and Ferny Angeles Paz were tied at 6-6 with 82nd-ranked Sarah Lee and Ronit Yurovsky. The Buckeye duo had raced ahead to a 5-1 advantage vs. the Wolverines, but the sophomore doubles team could not hold off the Michigan momentum and suffered an 8-6 loss to give Michigan the doubles point.
Courts one, two and four were the first to finish in singles action with the Buckeyes falling to three ranked opponents. De Santis dropped a 6-3, 6-1, decision to No. 28 Bektas at No. 1 singles, while Sanford posted a 6-1, 6-3, loss to No. 33 Yurovsky on court two as Michigan took a 3-0 lead vs. the Buckeyes. Angeles Paz fell to No. 117 Sarah Lee, 6-2, 6-3, on court four to give the Wolverines the clinching point.
Kowase, Niehaus and Grainne O’Neill did not complete their singles matches as play was suspended. Kowase captured her first set, 6-1, but trailed 1-3 in the second on court five. Niehaus rallied from a first-set 7-5 setback to take a 5-3 lead on No. 3 in the second, while O’Neill led 4-2 in her second set on court six before play was suspended.
The Scarlet and Gray have rewritten the record books this spring. The 20 team victories ties the program high set by the 2010 squad, while the team’s 10 wins vs. conference opponents is a program best. The Buckeyes amassed an 11-match win streak from March 6 to April 17, a program record, and tied the highest ITA ranking in program history at No. 17.
Ohio State vs Michigan
Apr 26, 2015 at Evanston, Ill.
(Combe Tennis Center)
#12 Michigan 4, #18 Ohio State 0
Singles competition
1. #28 Emina Bektas (UM) def. Gabriella De Santis (OSU) 6-3, 6-1
2. #33 Ronit Yurovsky (UM) def. Anna Sanford (OSU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Alex Najarian (UM) vs. Sandy Niehaus (OSU) 7-5, 3-5, unfinished
4. #117 Sarah Lee (UM) def. Ferny Angeles Paz (OSU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Mira Ruder-Hook (UM) vs. Miho Kowase (OSU) 1-6, 3-1, unfinished
6. Sara Remynse (UM) vs. Grainne O’Neill (OSU) 6-3, 2-4, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #19 Emina Bektas/Alex Najarian (UM) def. #48 Gabriella De Santis/Sandy Niehaus (OSU) 8-7 (9-7)
2. #82 Ronit Yurovsky/Sarah Lee (UM) def. Miho Kowase/Ferny Angeles Paz (OSU) 8-6
3. Olivia Sneed/Anna Sanford (OSU) def. Mira Ruder-Hook/Sara Remynse (UM) 8-7 (7-4)
Match Notes:
Ohio State 20-6; National ranking #18
Michigan 24-3; National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,2,4)
Big Ten Tournament Championship
#1 Michigan vs. #2 Ohio State
T-2:36 A-127
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,4
