Ohio State
Michigan
Buckeyes Beat Michigan 4-3; Clinch B1G East Division Title
4/18/2021 4:39:25 PM | Men's Tennis
COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a match befitting of two of the top teams in the country, No. 8 Ohio State came out victorious with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over No. 7 Michigan on Sunday afternoon.
The win secured the Buckeyes (18-2) a share of the Big Ten East Division championship with Michigan (14-3).
One week from now, we'll be the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Take a quick look back at the win that got us there. #GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/wNekMlT35G
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioStateMTEN) April 22, 2021
The match was a battle. For just the fourth time this season, the Buckeyes dropped the doubles point. Michigan rolled to a 6-1 win on court one and then took a 6-3 decision on court two. That left the Buckeyes needing four singles wins and Michigan had all of the momentum.
The comeback started with sixth-year senior Kyle Seelig, fittingly on his senior day. Seelig claimed an impressive 6-2, 6-3 victory on court four against Patrick Maloney. Maloney has beaten Seelig earlier this year in Ann Arbor.
Michigan then went back in front 2-1 as John McNally fell 6-3, 6-4 on court two to Ondrej Styler. Cannon Kinglsey lost the first set to Andrew Fenty on court one but rebounded to win 6-4 in the second and then secured a ton of momentum for the team with a 6-3 win in the third.
Robert Cash was leaded 5-2 in the first set before losing 7-5. He then looked to be in complete control, winning the second set 6-0 but would drop the deciding set 6-2. That swung the momentum back to Michigan with two matches to play.
James Trotter and Matias Siimar split the first two sets and then battled into a third-set tiebreaker on court three. Trotter had all the momentum in the breaker and came away with a 7-2 victory to even the score at 3-3.
That left the team match to be decided by OSU freshman JJ Tracy and Michigan senior Nick Beaty. Tracy struggled in the first set and lost 6-4. He was then down a break in the second but rallied for a 7-5 victory. He went down an early break third but again rallied to even the set at 4-4. He held at 5-4 and Beaty held as well for 5-5. Another hold for Tracy at 6-5 and then as he was battling cramps, the Buckeye freshman pulls out the 7-5 victory in the third to give the Buckeyes the win.
The Big Ten broke into East and West divisions this season for men’s tennis to accommodate travel schedules due to Covid. Ohio State and Michigan shared the east title and Illinois won the west title. The Big Ten Tournament is set to begin April 29 in Lincoln, Neb.
#8 Ohio State 4, #7 Michigan 3
Singles
1. Cannon Kingsley (OSU) def. Andrew Fenty (UM) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Ondrej Styler (UM) def. John McNally (OSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. James Trotter (OSU) def. Matias Siimar (UM) 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2)
4. Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Patrick Maloney (UM) 6-2, 6-3
5. JJ Tracy (OSU) def. Nick Beaty (UM) 4-6, 7-5, 7-5
6. Nino Ehrenschneider (UM) def. Robert Cash (OSU) 7-5, 0-6, 6-2
Doubles
1. Matias Siimar/Andrew Fenty (UM) def. Justin Boulais/James Trotter (OSU) 6-1
2. Patrick Maloney/Ondrej Styler (UM) def. John McNally/Robert Cash (OSU) 6-3
3. Cannon Kingsley/JJ Tracy (OSU) vs. Nino Ehrenschneider/Connor Johnston (UM) 4-3, unfinished
Michigan 14-3; National ranking #7
Ohio State 18-2; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (4,2,1,6,3,5)
Official: Julio Colon T-2:20 A-215
#GoBuckeyes
