Ohio State
#15 Arizona (NCAA Super Regional)
Buckeyes Beat Arizona 4-2, Head to NCAA Quarterfinals
5/13/2023 5:10:00 PM | Men's Tennis
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Survive and advance. It's been said a million times during any NCAA Tournament and Ohio State offered the latest example on Saturday. The 3rd-seeded Buckeyes outlasted a very game Arizona team, 4-2, to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.
Ohio State won the doubles point and led 2-0 before Arizona got back into the match with a pair of singles wins. The remaining three matches all went to a third set and the Buckeyes got wins within 15 seconds of each other to secure the clinching two points.
The Buckeyes are now 32-2 on the season, have won 17-consecutive matches, and finished with a perfect 20-0 record at home. They will head to Orlando next week for the NCAA quarterfinals which will be on Thursday evening.
Doubles
- The Buckeyes would take the early lead by winning the doubles point with 6-3 wins on courts one and three.
- Robert Cash and Justin Boulais provided the first win on court one. Cash smashed a forehand winner to give the Buckeyes the first break at 3-1. They held that edge the rest of the way thanks to tremendous play at the net by Cash.
- Cannon Kingsley and JJ Tracy raced out to a quick 2-0 lead on court three. The Buckeyes won a huge deuce point to keep their break lead at 4-2 and would break again to win the match and clinch the doubles point 6-3.
- James Trotter and Andrew Lutschaunig had a good battle on court two, remaining on serve the whole match. Trotter had a tremendous winner up the middle on a deuce point to stay on serve at 2-2. That was a huge point in the match to not allow Arizona any momentum. The Buckeyes were serving down 6-5 when the match was halted.
Singles
- The singles matches were tense and came right down to the wire. The final three matches on court went to a third set and could have gone either way. In the end, the Buckeyes fed off the home crowd and pulled out a pair of victories.
- Freshman Jack Anthrop got the first singles win as he put the second point on the board for the Buckeyes with a dominant win on court six. He took down fellow freshman Dominique Rolland 6-3, 6-3 for his 19th win of the season.
- The Wildcats got on the board with a win on court five as Jay Friend beat Alexander Bernard 6-1, 6-4.
- Moments later, Arizona evened the score as Colton Smith bested Justin Boulais 6-4, 7-5 on court one.
- Kingsley, Tracy and Trotter all split their first sets and were in battles in their final sets.
- Kingsley was down 5-3 in his first set and battled back to win four consecutive games to win the set 7-5. He also rallied from a hole in the second but would fall 7-5 to force a third set. He was on serve until he broke at 4-3. A hold pushed him to 5-3 and another break sealed the 6-3 victory.
- Literally 15 seconds later, Tracy finished-off his win on court three to clinch the match. He beat Gustaf Strom 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. That was his team-best 27th singles win on the season.
- Trotter had a chance to win his match in a second-set tiebreaker but he fell 8-6. He also had two match points at 5-4 in the third, but Herman Hoeyeraal was able to hold. They were in a tiebreaker when the match was clinched.
Up Next
- Ohio State heads to the quarterfinals for the 16th time in program history and will play No. 6-seed Georgia on Thursday evening in Orlando. The quarterfinal matches are scheduled for 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.
#3 Ohio State 4, #15 Arizona 2
Singles
1. #55 Colton Smith (ARIZ) def. #24 Justin Boulais (OSU) 6-4, 7-5
2. #11 Cannon Kingsley (OSU) def. #40 Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
3. #22 JJ Tracy (OSU) def. #114 Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
4. #34 James Trotter (OSU) vs. Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-6, unfinished
5. Jay Friend (ARIZ) def. #41 Alexander Bernard (OSU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Jack Anthrop (OSU) def. Dominique Rolland (ARIZ) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
1. #21 Robert Cash/Justin Boulais (OSU) def. #70 Jonas Ziverts/Jay Friend (ARIZ) 6-3
2. #16 James Trotter/Andrew Lutschaunig (OSU) vs. Colton Smith/Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) 5-6, unfinished
3. Cannon Kingsley/JJ Tracy (OSU) def. Gustaf Strom/Eric Padgham (ARIZ) 6-3
Match Notes:
Arizona 23-7; National ranking #15
Ohio State 32-2; National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,5,1,2,3)
NCAA Tournament Super Regional
Official: Steve Menoff T-3:25 A-646
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Players Mentioned
