What a match tonight in Columbus with #1 Oklahoma coming in and knocking off #8 Ohio State 4-3 and thus snapping the Buckeyes unbelievable home court winning streak at 200.
Early on it looked like the streak would live on as Ohio State came out strong and took the doubles point by winning 6-4 at #1 and 6-2 at #3. Ty Tucker decided to change up the singles lineup a bit by moving freshman Mikael Torpegaard up from 2 to 1 while moving Chris Diaz from 1 to 2 and Tucker also switched up Ralf Steinbach and Hunter Callahan by moving Steinbach up to 4 and dropping Callahan down to 5.
Steinbach woud be the first off the court with an impressive 6-2, 6-2 win over Spencer Papa at #4 but shortly thereafter Alex Ghilea would get Oklahoma on the board with an equally impressive 6-3, 6-3 win over Hunter Callahan. Axel Alvarez would then even the match up at 2-2 with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Chris Diaz at #2 but it looked like Ohio State was on the verge of retaking the lead with Herkko Pollanen up a set and a break on Dane Webb at #3. Webb would break back and then pull out the 2nd set in a tiebreak and would then cruise through the 3rd set to pull out a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 win which would put Oklahoma just a point away from the finish line.
Ohio State’s Mikael Torpegaard would then tie the match back up when he pulled off the biggest win of his young collegiate career by coming back from a set down to defeat #12 Andrew Harris 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 at #1 singles.
The only remaining match left on court was at #6 singles with Ohio State’s Mr. Clutch Kevin Metka taking on an untested Florin Bragusi and if you were an Ohio State fan you had to feel pretty good about this matchup. The breaks in this match were few and far between but a big one came in the 1st set when Metka jumped out to a 5-3 lead but he was unable to serve the set out and eventually dropped the opening set in tiebreak. The 2nd set stayed on serve throughout and went to another tiebreak with Metka taking this one by a 7-2 score. Early in the 3rd set Metka started showing signs of stress as he was forced to take a medical timeout with cramps starting to set in. After getting stretched out for a few minutes Metka persevered and would get himself in position to win the match by going up 5-4 and up 15-40 on the Bragusi serve. The sophomore from Romania wouldn’t wilt and would came back to hold for 5-5 and then in the tiebreak Bragusi would go up 6-5. With Metka serving Bragusi would pounce on the 2nd serve and Metka couldn’t get back in play and that was it.
Below are a couple of quotes from OU’s John Roddick via the Oklahoma recap
“That was one of the best tennis matches I’ve ever been a part of, head coach John Roddick said. “To win four singles in here after dropping the doubles point shows that we have an incredibly tough group.
Florin stepped up in a fantastic environment and showed what he’s made of, Roddick said. “I couldn’t be more proud of that mental effort. I would also like to say how impressed with Metka I was. He played really well and competed great.
Ohio State recap
#1 Oklahoma 4, #8 Ohio State 3
Doubles
1. #4 Ralf Steinbach/Kevin Metka (OSU) def. #6 Dane Webb/Axel Alvarez (OU) 6-4
2. #52 Andrew Harris/Alex Ghilea (OU) def. Herkko Pollanen/Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) 6-3
3. #40 Chris Diaz/Hunter Callahan (OSU) def. Austin Siegel/Spencer Papa (OU) 6-2
Singles
1. #36 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU 13.96) def. #12 Andrew Harris (OU 14.72) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
2. #7 Axel Alvarez (OU 14.55) def.
3. #18 Dane Webb (OU 14.19) def. #78 Herkko Pollanen (OSU 13.58) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1
4. #73 Ralf Steinbach (OSU 13.91) def. Spencer Papa (OU 13.89) 6-2, 6-2
5.
6. Florin Bragusi (OU 13.54) def. Kevin Metka (OSU 13.81) 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 7-6(5)
Match Notes:
Oklahoma 12-1; National ranking #1
Ohio State 12-3; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,5,2,1,3,6)
Official: Marcus Lee T-3:56 A-757
Will Oklahoma Snap Ohio State’s Home Winning Streak on March 6th?
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Athens, Ga: In the other top 10 matchup of the day it was #4 Georgia knocking off #10 Texas 4-1. Georgia would hand Texas A&M it’s first loss of the year in doubles by taking the point with wins at 1 and 2. In singles Georgia’s Nathan Pasha was first off the court with a 7-5, 6-1 win at #3 over a struggling Harrison Adams. Adams led 5-3 in the 1st set but Pasha would win 10 of the next 11 to close out. Texas A&M’s Arthur Rinderknech would pick up the Aggies only point by knocking off Ben Wagland 6-3, 6-2 at #4 singles. Georgia would then get a pair of straight set wins at 5 and 6 from Nick Wood and Paul Oosterbaan with Wood providing the clincher. The 2 remaining matches were halted due to the clinch with the match at #1 singles on serve deep in the 3rd while Texas A&M’s Jeremy Efferding had a break lead at #2.
Notes: Austin Smith led 4-2 in the 3rd but Vinsant got it back on serve. Montgomery and Wagland went up early breaks in the 1st set but were quickly broken back. Harrison Adams led 5-3 in the 1st and faded.
Georgia recap
Texas A&M recap
Here’s a comment via the Georgia recap:
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said head coach Manuel Diaz. “I thought we fought a really good fight. Texas A&M is one of the highest-ranked teams in the conference, so it was a great win for our squad. I honestly don’t think we played our best, but I keep telling the guys that I haven’t seen a bad win yet. These guys knew how to recognize the opportunities that were in front of them and they fought hard and played well enough to beat a very good team today.”
#4 Georgia 4, #10 Texas A&M 1
March 6, 2015 at Athens, Ga. (Dan Magill Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. #25 Austin Smith (UGA 14.11) vs. #65 Shane Vinsant (TAMU 14.27) 6-3, 1-6, 5-4, unfinished
2. #66 Jeremy Efferding (TAMU 13.97) vs. #17 Wayne Montgomery (UGA 14.66) 6-2, 4-6, 3-0, unfinished
3. #16 Nathan Pasha (UGA 14.20) def. #39 Harrison Adams (TAMU 13.85) 7-5, 6-1
4. Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU 14.06) def. Ben Wagland (UGA 13.23) 6-3, 6-2
5. Nick Wood (UGA 13.69) def. #88 AJ Catanzariti (TAMU 13.98) 7-5, 7-5
6. Paul Oosterbaan (UGA 13.59) def. Max Lunkin (TAMU 12.83) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #10 Austin Smith/Ben Wagland (UGA) def. #8 Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 6-2
2. Eric Diaz/Nathan Pasha (UGA) def. #22 Jeremy Efferding/Jordan Szabo (TAMU) 6-4
3. AJ Catanzariti/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Wayne Montgomery/Paul Oosterbaan (UGA) 6-4
Match Notes
Texas A&M 6-2 (2-1); National ranking #10
Georgia 10-2 (3-0); National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,4,6,5)
Oklahoma has that 'team of destiny' feel to it. They are gritty. I'm still not convinced they win the NCAAs because their inability to win in doubles. It bit them in College Station and will bite them again.
Still can't believe he came up short especially when he had all those match points up 5-4 in the 3rd. Roddick has some guys that keep coming up big.
The man, the myth, the Metka. . .coming down with cramps in the winter? Seriously, were just too many people exhaling too much CO2?