Buckeyes Get Tan & Win at Florida, Oklahoma State Nukes Northwestern Again, Stanford Vaults Over Vanderbilt

Second-ranked Ohio State played its first outdoor match of the year this afternoon at No. 10 Florida and despite dropping the doubles point the Buckeyes would come back strong in singles to win it 4-1. Florida’s Josh Wardell and Chase Perez-Blanco dropped the opening game of their match at No. 3 but they’d win the next five and eventually close it out 6-2. Ohio State’s Hugo Di Feo and Martin Joyce served for the match at No. 2 up 5-4 but Florida’s Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin broke Joyce from 15/40 to even it at 5-all. Over at No. 1, Florida’s Alfredo Perez and Johannes Ingildsen jumped out to a 2-0 lead but Ohio State’s Mikael Torpegaard and Herkko Pollanen broke and held for 2-2. Florida would hold for 3-2 and break on the no-ad point for 4-2 but Ohio State would break back from 30/40 and hold for 4-4. After three consecutive holds, Florida would break the Pollanen serve on the no-ad point to win it 7-5. On the no-ad point, Perez drilled the return at Torpegaard, who was at the net, and Torpegaard’s volley sailed long to give Florida the win.

Ohio State, who had won six straight against Florida, rallied in singles and took four opening sets. Ohio State senior Herkko Pollanen tied the match at 1-1 with a straight set win over Johannes Ingildsen at No. 4. Pollanen opened up a 4-0 lead to start the match and he had three break points to go up 5-0 but Ingildsen managed to hold on the no-ad point to make it 4-1. Pollanen held for 5-1 and then broke from 30/40 to take the opening set 6-1. The second set stayed on serve until Pollanen broke for 4-2 and then he’d break again to close it out 6-1, 6-2.

Ohio State junior Mikael Torpegaard put the Buckeyes ahead 2-1 with a straight set win over Alfredo Perez at No. 1. Perez jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the match but Torpegaard took the next four to go ahead 4-2. Perez held at love to pull within 4-3 but Torpegaard held two more times to take the opening set 6-4. Torpegaard went up a break to start the second set and he’d add a second break to go up 4-1 and would eventually close it out 6-4, 6-3.

Ohio State redshirt freshman Kyle Seelig put the Buckeyes up 3-1 with a three set win over Jordan Belga at No. 6. After Seelig took the first set 6-2, Belga came back and took the second 6-3. The third set was all Seelig as he broke early and often and he’d close it out on the no-ad point with a forehand winner to take it 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Ohio State junior Hugo Di Feo would clinch the 4-1 win with a come from behind three set win at No. 2 over Chase Perez-Blanco. Perez-Blanco served for the match twice in the second set up 5-4 and 6-5 but Di Feo broke on both occasions and would pull out the set in a tiebreak by a 7-2 score. Di Feo went up a break to start the third set but Perez-Blanco broke back to even it at 1-1. Di Feo broke right back and held for 3-1 and then he’d break on the no-ad point for 4-1. Di Feo held for 5-1 and then he broke Perez-Blanco at love to win it 2-6, 7-6, 6-1. 

The other two matches were halted with JJ Wolf up a break at 4-3 in the third at No. 3 and Maxx Lipman up a break at 4-2 in the third at No. 5. 

#2 Ohio State 4, #10 Florida 1
Sunday, February 26, 2017 | 12 PM Gainesville, Fla.
Doubles competition
1. #9 Alfredo Perez/Johannes Ingildsen (UF) def. #20 Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU), 7-5
2. Maxx Lipman/Elliott Orkin (UF) vs. #56 Martin Joyce/Hugo Di Feo (OSU), DNF (6-5 UF)
3. Joshua Wardell/Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) def. Matt Mendez/Hunter Tubert (OSU), 6-2
Singles Competition
1. #1 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #6 Alfredo Perez (UF), 6-4, 6-3
2. #3 Hugo Di Feo (OSU) def. Chase Perez-Blanco (UF), 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1
3. 392 Elliott Orkin (UF) vs. JJ Wolf (OSU), DNF (7-5, 4-6, 4-3 OSU)
4. #56 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Johannes Ingildsen (UF), 6-1, 6-2
5. Maxx Lipman (UF) vs. #88 Martin Joyce (OSU), DNF (6-4, 4-6, 4-2 UF)
6. Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. #120 Jordan Belga (UF), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
Match Notes
Ohio State 14=1; National ranking #2
Florida 7-4; National ranking #10
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (4,1,6,2)

Post-Match Quotes via Florida’s recap

Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On the matchup of Alfredo Perez and Mikael Torpegaard…
“I thought that Alfredo was sometimes rushing a little bit, trying to get forward a little too quickly at times without setting up the points, and against that player, you’ve got to hit quality shots. You’ve got to push him and you’ve got to stretch him and get the ball out of his strike zone. I think Alfredo would love another opportunity to play him later in the season, hopefully we get a chance at the NCAA tournament, but my hat’s off to him. I think Mikael is a great player and he came with great fire and great energy from the start of the match to the end of the match.”

On how Chase Perez-Blanco handled Hugo Di Feo…
“I think Chase came out and played ball, he played some high level tennis. It started with doubles – No. 3 doubles was lights out today, and that’s as good as we’ve had all year, especially from that spot, they just came out and lit it up. A lot of momentum he had going into singles was coming from what he did in doubles, and he came out and set the tone early with an early break, and was able to close out that first set in style. Then he gave himself the chance to serve out the match twice, at 5-4 in the second and again at 6-5, and all of a sudden he blinked. He just backed off a little bit and that’s all it takes, if you back off an inch these guys at this level will seize the opportunity.
“Chase is playing some good ball, he’s playing really well, he’s moving well, he’s playing smart, he’s showing that he’s got an all-court game, he’s just got to be able to sustain it and finish.”

On how Ohio State was able to pull out a win after traveling after the National Team Indoor Championships…
“I think that what they did was really tough to do. To go all the way through the National Team Indoors, there’s a lot of stress that’s involved in these matches, not just the physical part but the mental part as well. To bounce back and get excited after wins and then come back down, recover, and prepare the body the next day – it’s tough to do that two days in a row, much less three, and they did for four days at the highest level. Then to turn around and go home from there, and then get back on the road and come south and play outdoors, it tells you just how good those guys really are.”

Junior Jordan Belga
On how Ohio State was able to pull out four singles wins after losing the doubles point…
“I think they definitely came back strong in singles, after the doubles point they probably felt a little more motivated to come out strong and fight back in the singles and they definitely came out fighting. We were all grinding, we were all battling, they were just better in the big moments today.”

On how competing with a team like Ohio State affects the team’s confidence…
“It shows us how much potential we have as a team, and that we can definitely keep climbing up the rankings. We’re already a top 10 team, but we can definitely aim for those top five teams for sure. I think we just need to continue to put in the hard work, continue to encourage each other to work hard and time will tell for us.”

Senior Elliott Orkin
“I think we expected to win this match, especially with a schedule like Coach [Shelton] has put together with an out of conference schedule that is probably the hardest in the country. We had USC and UCLA here a few weeks ago, those are two top 10 teams and we beat them. We played Virginia away, we played three top 20 teams at Indoors, then come back here and play Ohio State. We’ve seen the best competition in the country, and we’ve seen that we’re just as good as these teams if not better. So even though they’re ranked No. 2, especially on our home court and playing outside where we’re more comfortable, we thought we would win the match for sure.”

{loadposition ads} 

Oklahoma State and Northwestern went 29 years between their first and second meetings but on Sunday they met for the second time in nine days with Oklahoma State winning a week ago Friday 4-2 at the National Team Indoors. Just as OSU had done a week ago they won the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to take the early 1-0 lead. Oklahoma State had to adjust its singles lineup for the second match in a row with Lukas Finzelberg (usual No. 2) out, for what I’m guessing is an injury, but just about everyone managed to pick up the slack.

OSU junior Tristan Meraut, who did not play in the match last week, cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 5 to make it 2-0. OSU first-semester freshman Artur Dubinski replicated his result from last week with a straight set win over Northwestern freshman Dominik Stary at No. 4. Northwestern got on the board when sophomore Jason Seidman defeated Jurence Mendoza in straight sets at No. 6 (same as last week) but OSU senior Arjun Kadhe would open up a 4-1 third set lead at No. 2 and close out Konrad Zieba 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 to clinch the 4-1 victory. 

The other matches went unfinished with Strong Kirchheimer up 4-2 in the third at No. 1 while OSU’s Lucas Gerch was up 2-0 in the third at No. 4. Oklahoma State improved to 9-3 while Northwestern dropped its fifth in a row with its record coming in at 10-5. Note – NU would snap its losing streak later in the day with a 4-0 win over Illinois-Chicago.

#8 Oklahoma State 4, #13 Northwestern 1
February 26, 2017 at Evanston, ILL (Combe Tennis Center)
Singles competition
No. 1 – #26 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) vs. #18 Julian Cash (OSU), 3-6, 6-0, 4-2 (unfinished)
No. 2 – #69 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. #40 Konrad Zieba (NU), 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 *
No. 3 – Lucas Gerch (OSU) vs. Sam Shropshire (NU) 3-6, 6-3, 2-0 (unfinished)
No. 4 – Artur Dubinski (OSU) def. Dominik Starý (NU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 – Tristan Meraut (OSU) def. Ben Vandixhorn (NU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 – Jason Seidman (NU) def. Jurence Mendoza (OSU), 6-4, 6-2
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 6, 2*
Doubles competition
No. 1 – #4 Julian Cash / Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Sam Shropshire / Konrad Zieba (NU), 6-4
No. 2 – #51 Strong Kirchheimer / Dominik Starý (NU) vs. #31 Lucas Gerch / Jurence Mendoza (OSU), 5-5 (unfinished)
No. 3 – Artur Dubinski / Tristan Meraut (OSU) def. Chris Ephron / Ben Vandixhorn (NU), 6-4 *
Order of Finish: 1, 3*

The last two NCAA women’s national champs clashed on Sunday in Palo Alto as No. 25 Stanford hosted No. 7 Vanderbilt. Stanford won the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 and then the Cardinal took five opening sets in singles. Astra Sharma was the only Commodore to take a first set but she was also the first to finish as she won in straight sets at No. 1 to tie the match at 1-1. Stanford retook the lead with a straight set win from Melissa Lord at No. 3 but Vanderbilt won all the other second sets to force four third sets. Vanderbilt senior Sydney Campbell tied the match at 2-2 with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2 but Stanford freshman Emma Higuchi won the final three games of her match at No. 6 to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Vanderbilt freshman Christina Rosca tied the match at 3-3 with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(5) win at No. 6 so the match would be decided at No. 5 between Stanford freshman Emily Arbuthnoff and Vanderbilt freshman Emma Kurtz.

After splitting sets, Kurtz went ahead 2-0 in the third but Arbuthnoff won the next three to go in front 3-2. Arbuthnoff would go up 5-3 but Kurtz would hold on the no-ad point for 5-4 and then break on the no-ad point for 5-5. Arbuthnott broke for 6-5 but Kurtz broke back from 30/40 to send it to a match deciding tiebreak. The returner won the first seven points of the tiebreak before Kurtz hit a swinging volley winner to go in front 5-3. Arbuthnott hit a forehand winner to put it back on serve at 5-4 and then she won both points on her serve with back-to-back service winners to go in front 6-5. Arbuthnott would close out the match with a fourth consecutive winner to take it 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5). 

No. 25 Stanford 4, No. 7 Vanderbilt 3
February 26, 2017 at Taube Family Tennis Center
Doubles competition
1) No. 32 Sharma/Smith (VANDY) d. Arbuthnott/Davidson (STAN) 6-3
2) No. 36 Doyle/Lord (STAN) d. Campbell/Sellyn (VANDY) 6-4
3) Higuchi/Lampl (STAN) d. Kurtz/Rosca (VANDY) 6-0
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles competition
1) No. 5 Astra Sharma (VANDY) d. No. 65 Taylor Davidson (STAN) 6-4, 6-1
2) No. 16 Sydney Campbell (VANDY) d. No. 37 Caroline Doyle (STAN) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
3) No. 8 Melissa Lord (STAN) d. Georgina Sellyn (VANDY) 6-0, 7-5
4) Christina Rosca (VANDY) d. No. 83 Caroline Lampl (STAN) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
5) No. 49 Emily Arbuthnott (STAN) d. Emma Kurtz (VANDY) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
6) No. 43 Emma Higuchi (STAN) d. Emily Smith (VANDY) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2, 6, 4, 5

• #6 Cal def. UC Davis 4-1 & UC Santa Barbara 4-3 – the UCSB match was really tight with Billy Griffith coming back from a set down to win the decider 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3. Cal’s usual No. 3 Filip Bergevi didn’t play in either match after sustaining an injury last weekend at the NTIs.  
• #9 Michigan def. #33 Cal Poly 6-1 – Wolverines went on the road and picked up the doubles point and then won three of four singles matches that went three sets. 
• #18 Columbia def. St. John’s 7-0 – Lions swept doubles courts and won 12 of 14 sets in singles. 
• #20 Mississippi State (video) def. #38 North Carolina State 5-2 – Pack took the doubles point but MSU picked up four straight set wins with first-semester freshman Giovanni Oradini clinching at No. 4.
• #23 Oregon def #42 Drake 7-0 – Ducks won 12 of 13 sets in singles
• #24 Cornell def. #31 Wisconsin 4-3 – Badgers took the doubles point but Cornell senior Colin Sinclair won the decider 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 at No. 4.
• #26 Old Dominion def. Penn 4-3 – ODU won the doubles point in a tiebreak at No. 1 and then five of six singles matches went the distance with Aziz Kijametovic clinching at No. 2 with a 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 win over Matt Nardella. 
• #29 SMU def. #48 Central Florida 4-2 – SMU took the doubles point but UCF took four first sets in singles. SMU senior Markus Kerner clinched the match with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 win over Chris Barrus at No. 4
• #30 Georgia State def. Middle Tennessee State 6-1 – GSU won doubles and 11 of 14 sets in singles
• Texas A&M def. #37 Florida State 4-3 – FSU took the doubles point but A&M picked up three straight set singles wins and Jordi Arconada won the decider 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 over Jose Gracia at No. 4.
• #39 South Florida def. #40 Pepperdine 4-2 – Waves took the doubles point but USF won three singles matches in straight sets and sophomore Alberto Barroso clinched the win with a 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 win at No. 3. 
• #44 Memphis def. Harvard 4-3 – The Crimson took the doubles point but Memphis rallied and won two of the three matches that went to a third set with Jan Pallares getting the clincher at No. 5 when Harvard’s Grant Solomon was forced to retire down 3-1 in the third with full body cramps. 
• #45 Indiana def. #32 Washington 4-3 – IU sophomore Antonio Cembellin clinched the match by breaking Mitch Stewart to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 – Cembellin was cramping badly at the end and was going for broke on each service return and he ended closing out the match by hitting back-to-back return winners. 
• Yale def. Elon 7-0
• Loyola Marymount def. Arizona 5-2 
• Appalachian State def. Winthrop 5-2