Andrew Lutschaunig and James Trotter of @OhioStateMTEN make the #NCAATennis finals with a 3-6, 7-6(2), 10-4 win over Pepperdine’s de Jonge/Zeitvogel. pic.twitter.com/YU1s4v6m0E
— John (@JTweetsTennis) May 26, 2023
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State doubles team of Andrew Lutschaunig and James Trotter don’t seem to be running out of gas! After leading the team to the NCAA championship match last weekend, the duo has run through the doubles bracket this week and will play for the NCAA Doubles Championship on Saturday.
The Buckeyes beat Daniel De Jonge and Tim Zeitvogel of Pepperdine 3-6, 7-6(2), 10-4 in the semifinals on Friday evening at the USTA National Campus. Both teams had trouble holding serve in the first set but the entire second set was played on serve. In the second set tiebreak, the Buckeyes raced to a 7-2 win. They kept that momentum in the super-breaker and would roll to a 10-4 victory.
Trotter and Lutschaunig are looking to become the second Buckeye duo to win an NCAA Doubles title, joining Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola, who won the title in 2012. They are the fifth Buckeyes doubles team to reach the championship match since 2012. Matej Vocel and Robert Cash finished runner-up last year, Mikael Torpegaard and Martin Joyce were runner-up in 2018 and Peter Kobelt and Kevin Metka were runner-up in 2014.
The final match will feature an Ohio State vs. Texas showdown for the second consecutive season. Vocel and Cash lost to Cleeve Harper and Richard Ciamara in a super-breaker last year. Lutschaunig and Trotter will play Harper and Eliot Spizzirri this year. Similar to the team championship between Ohio State and Virginia, the doubles championship competitors have met twice already this season. Trotter and Lutschaunig beat Harper and Spizzirri 6-3 on Feb. 5 inside the Ty Tucker Tennis Center and then won 6-4 at the ITA Indoor Team National Championships on Feb. 18.
#GoBucks
