No. 2 Ohio State Claims 6-1 Victory at No. 27 LSU

Buckeyes improve to 19-1 on the season

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The six-time defending Big Ten champion and No. 2 Ohio State men’s tennis team earned its fourth road victory of the season with a 6-1 win at No. 27 LSU Monday. The match was played outside at W.T. Dub Robinson Stadium.

 

The Buckeyes  (19-1; 2-0 Big Ten) move to 11-1 vs. teams ranked in the ITA Top 30, with their only loss a 4-3 decision to No. 1 USC in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.

 

Devin McCarthy, ranked 79th-nationally, defeated LSU’s Tom Knights 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5 singles to give the Buckeyes a 4-0 lead and the guaranteed victory vs. the Tigers. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has now won three consecutive matches to improve to 17-6 overall, including a 9-2 mark at the No. 5 position.

 

With the win, Ohio State is 8-5 all-time vs. the Tigers (11-5), having won the previous seven meetings. All eight wins have occurred under head coach Ty Tucker.

 

The Buckeyes earned their 19th doubles point of the spring after 8-4 wins at both the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, respectively.

 

Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola, the nation’s top-ranked collegiate tandem, earned their 8-4 victory first on court one against LSU’s Neal Skupski and James Turbervill. It was their sixth-consecutive doubles triumph. Buchanan and Rola are 21-2 overall for the season, including a 12-2 mark at the No. 1 position.

 

McCarthy and Ille Van Engelen claimed the doubles point for the visiting Buckeyes after defeating the 51st-ranked duo of Olivier Borsos and Chris Simpson at No. 2 doubles. The 39th-ranked Buckeye pair improve to 8-3 on court two and 21-7 overall.

 

In others doubles action, the Scarlet and Gray duo of Peter Kobelt and Connor Smith earned its 16th win of the season (one loss) during the spring with a 9-7 victory at No. 3 doubles vs. Stefan Szacinski and Knights.

 

Buchanan, ranked No. 12 in the country, put the Buckeyes up 2-0 after a quick 6-2, 6-2 decision against No. 71 Borsos at No. 2 singles. The two-time defending Big Ten Athlete of the Week has now won four consecutive singles matches en route to a 15-5 overall record.

 

Van Engelen, ranked 107th, beat Turbervill 6-4, 6-0 on court four for his fifth-consecutive win and 18th of the season, while McCarthy would follow shortly with his straight-set victory.

 

In other singles competition, sixth-ranked Rola downed No. 85 Skupski 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 singles to give the Ptuj, Slovenia, native his team-high 22nd singles win.

 

The final two singles contests came down to third-set tiebreakers. Smith, a Buckeye junior, fell to Szacinski 6-2, 5-7, 0-1 at No. 6 singles. It was only the Tampa, Fla., native’s second loss of the season. Kobelt won his tiebreaker at No. 3 singles vs. Simpson 7-6, 6-2, 1-0. The Buckeyes’ 46th-ranked player improves to 14-8 overall after his fourth-consecutive singles victory.

 
Up next, Ohio State will travel to Athens for a 3 p.m. match Wednesday vs. the Georgia Bulldogs.

 

Break Points:

·          Ohio State is 8-5 all-time vs. LSU, having won the previous seven meetings.

·          As the No. 2 team nationally, Ohio State is 64-4.

·          Ohio State has won 61 of its last 62 regular-season (non-tournament) road contests dating back to 2006.

·          The Scarlet and Gray have won 19 of 20 doubles points this season.

·          The Buckeyes have been victorious in 36 of their previous 38 matches.

·          Ohio State has won 140 consecutive home matches in Columbus.

·          Since 2001, Ohio State is 264-37 when ranked in the ITA Top 25. That percentage improves to 217-14 from the 2005-06 season onward.

·          The Buckeyes have been ranked in the ITA Top 10 for 182 consecutive matches (beginning March 7, 2006).

·          Ohio State has won 81 consecutive Big Ten Conference matches.

 
Tennis Match Results
No. 2 Ohio State 6, No. 27 LSU 1
March 19, 2012 at Baton Rouge, La.
(W.T. Dub Robinson Stadium)
 
Singles
1. #6 Blaz Rola (OSU) def. #85 Neal Skupski (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. #12 Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. #71 Olivier Borsos (LSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. #46 Peter Kobelt (OSU) def. Chris Simpson (LSU) 7-6, 2-6, 1-0
4. #107 Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. James Turbervill (LSU) 6-4, 6-0
5. #79 Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. Tom Knights (LSU) 6-3, 6-2
6. Stefan Szacinski (LSU) def. Connor Smith (OSU) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0
 
Doubles
1. #1 Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Neal Skupski/James Turbervill (LSU) 8-4
2. #39 Devin McCarthy/Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. #51 Olivier Borsos/Chris Simpson (LSU) 8-4
3. Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith (OSU) def. Stefan Szacinski/Tom Knights (LSU) 9-7
 
Match Notes:
LSU 11-5; National ranking #27
Ohio State 19-1; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,4,5,1,6,3)