Ohio State
Texas
Buckeyes Advance to NCAA Quarters with 4-3 Win over Texas
5/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 20, 2016
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TULSA, Okla. – In a thrilling match that went down to the wire, the No. 5 ranked Ohio State men’s tennis team outlasted Texas 4-3 on Friday afternoon in the NCAA Championship round of 16.
Freshman Martin Joyce, who is undefeated this season, was pushed to the limit on court six but was able to prevail 7-3 in a third-set tie-breaker to provide the clinching point. It was his 23rd win this season.
The Buckeyes advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2014 and will face Cal on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
The win was the 17th in a row for the Buckeyes who knocked-off Texas for the first time in four tries in the NCAA Tournament. OSU also won the doubles point for the 17th-straight match. Mikael Torpegaard and Herkko Pollanen went up a break midway through the match on court one and would serve out for a 6-4 victory. It was their 18th win this season.
The matches on courts two and three were close. Ralf Steinbach and Martin Joyce on court two stayed on serve throughout and went to a tie-breaker. The Buckeye duo took a 4-2 lead but Texas won three-straight to take a 5-4 lead. Joyce then held his serve to give the Buckeyes match point and Steinbach would win the point at the net for the clinching point. Matt Mendez and Hugo Di Feo got down a break early but fought back and was tied 5-5 when the point was won.
In singles, Pollanen rolled his momentum from doubles into his singles match with Julian Zlobinsky and posted the second point for the Buckeyes with a 6-2, 6-0 victory. Texas then got on the board with a victory from Michael Riechmann over Ralf Steinbach at No. 4 singles and the OSU lead was 2-1.
Torpegaard ran into a buzz saw on Friday as George Goldhoff took the first set in a tightly contested tie-breaker and then won the second 6-0 to hand the Denmark native his first dual match loss of the season.
Ty Tucker and Martin Joyce talk about the win over Texas in the NCAA Round of 16 https://t.co/4q0GHnJkFe
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioState_MTEN) May 21, 2016
Senior captain Chris Diaz got off to a tough start against Adrian Ortiz on court two as he was down 5-2 early. But the Columbus, Ohio native won three-straight games and then fought-off two set points to push the set into a tie-breaker. A tie-breaker that he would go on to win 7-2. In the second set, he blitzed Ortiz with a 6-0 to give the Buckeyes a 3-2 edge.
Di Feo won the first set 6-2 over Harrison Scott but then dropped the second by the same score. He fell behind 3-0 in the third and fought hard to get back into the set before losing 6-4.
That put all eyes on court six and the Joyce/Mee match. Joyce lost the first set 6-3 but turned the tables with a 6-3 win in the second. The Hinsdale, Ill., native grabbed the first break of the set at 3-2 and would push the lead to 4-2 after his serve. He served for the match at 5-4 but was broken to even the set at 5-5. Joyce broke back to make it 6-5 but again Mee broke Joyce and the match headed to a tie-break. Joyce jumped out quick with a 4-0 lead and would go on to clinch the match 7-3.
This will be the second meeting between Ohio State and Cal in the NCAA Tournament. The Bears won the first meeting 4-0 in the round of 16 in 2003 in Georgia.
#5 Ohio State (33-2) def. #17-32 Texas (19-12), 4-3
Doubles
1. Herkko Pollanen/Mikael Torpegaard (Ohio State) def. George Goldhoff/Michael Riechmann (Texas), 6-4
2. Martin Joyce/Ralf Steinbach (Ohio State) def. Adrian Ortiz/Julian Zlobinsky (Texas), 7-6 (5)
3. John Mee/Harrison Scott (Texas) vs. Hugo Di Feo/Matt Mendez (Ohio State), 6-5 DNF
Order of Finish: 1, 2
Singles
1. #68 George Goldhoff (Texas) def. #1 Mikael Torpegaard (Ohio State), 7-6 (4), 6-0
2. #88 Chris Diaz (Ohio State) def. Adrian Ortiz (Texas), 7-6 (2), 6-0
3. Harrison Scott (Texas) def. #45 Hugo Di Feo (Ohio State), 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Michael Riechmann (Texas) def. Ralf Steinbach (Ohio State), 6-4, 6-4
5. #103 Herkko Pollanen (Ohio State) def. Julian Zlobinsky (Texas), 6-2, 6-0
6. Martin Joyce (Ohio State) def. John Mee (Texas), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3)
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 2, 3, 6
