Ohio State
Kentucky
OSU Outlasts No. 20 Kentucky 4-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 6, 2016
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 5 Ohio State men’s tennis won the doubles point and came away with three big singles victories to take a 4-2 win at No. 20 Kentucky on Wednesday afternoon at the Boone Tennis Center.
The win the 21st of the season for the Buckeyes who improve to 21-2 on the year. Kentucky falls to 15-6 with the setback.
The Buckeyes’ third doubles team of Matt Mendez and Hugo Di Feo fell behind 3-0 early but rallied to win the next six games and took a 6-3 victory over Austin Hussey and Ryotaro Matsumura. That was followed by a 7-5 victory from OSU’s top pair of Mikael Torpergaard and Martin Joyce at No. 1 and the Buckeyes had the 1-0 lead.
In singles, Wildcat freshman Matsumura has playing well as of late and he continued to play well on Wednesday, topping Chris Diaz 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles to even the match at 1-1. Torpergaard has also been playing tremendous tennis this spring and would pick up his 23rd win over the season. He defeated No. 25 William Bushamuka 7-5 in a first set tiebreaker and then rolled that momentum into a 6-0 win in the second. Torpergaard is now 23-2 this year and has yet to be defeated in 22 singles matches this spring.
Kentucky once again evened the score with a 6-4, 6-4 win from Enzo Wallart over Buckeye Herkko Pollanen at No. 4 singles. At No. 3, Di Feo lost the first set to Nils Ellefsen 6-2 but regrouped and would win the final two sets 6-3, 6-4 to give the Buckeyes a 3-2 lead.
Di Feo’s point was key for Ohio State as just four courts were available on Wednesday. That meant Ralf Steinbach at No. 5 and Joyce at No. 6 had to wait to start their matches. Instead of starting in a hole, the Buckeyes knew they just needed one victory in the final two matches to close the door. Both players would win the first set in their matches and Steinbach would be the first to finish the second, winning 7-5, 6-4 to provide the clinching point.
This was the final non-conference match of the season for the Buckeyes who will close the regular season with six-straight Big Ten Conference matches. The first two of those six matches are this weekend as OSU heads to Indiana for a 6 pm match with the Hoosiers on Friday. That will be followed by a Noon match at Purdue on Sunday.
#5 Ohio State 4, #20 Kentucky 2
Singles competition
1. #2 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #25 William Bushamuka (UK) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0
2. #52 Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) def. #65 Chris Diaz (OSU) 6-1, 6-1
3. #26 Hugo Di Feo (OSU) def. Nils Ellefsen (UK) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Enzo Wallart (UK) def. #70 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Ralf Steinbach (OSU) def. Trey Yates (UK) 7-5, 6-4
6. Martin Joyce (OSU) vs. Austin Hussey (UK) no result
Doubles competition
1. Mikael Torpegaard/Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Nils Ellefsen/Enzo Wallart (UK) 7-5
2. William Bushamuka/Trey Yates (UK) def. Ralf Steinbach/Hunter Tubert (OSU) 6-5
3. Matt Mendez/Hugo Di Feo (OSU) def. Austin Hussey/Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) 6-3
Match Notes:
Ohio State 21-2 (5-0 B1G); National ranking #5
Kentucky 15-6 (5-3 SEC); National ranking #20
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,1,4,3,5)
