Wisconsin falls to Ohio State 

Despite several close matches and overall strong play, No. 70 Wisconsin fell to No. 1 Ohio State 7-0 on Sunday at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

Head Coach Greg Van Emburgh explained the team’s struggles with injuries.

“We knew coming in that obviously today was going to be a tough match,” Van Emburgh said, “It doesn’t help when one of your guys sprains his ankle in practice yesterday (Wikberg) and the other (Zordani) is struggling with his knee.”

UW was unable to secure the doubles point against the Buckeyes.

Sophomore Jakhongir Jalalov and junior Michael Sinha put up a fight against Kevin Metka and Herkko Pollanen, but were unable to close things out, falling 8-4.

At No. 3 doubles, freshman Elliott Sprecher and sophomore Frederik Strabo fell to Hunter Callahan and Chris Diaz with a final score of 8-2.

Senior Petr Satral and sophomore Alexander Kokorev’s match against Peter Kobelt and Ralf Steinbach was unfortunately ended early after the duo was on their way to a win, leading 6-4.

In singles action, Kokorev battled eighth-ranked Kobelt in a close match, but ended up falling 7-5, 6-1.

At No. 2 singles, Satral fell to Pollannen in a hard fought match that ended with a final decision of 6-3, 6-2.

Jalalov came up short against Diaz in a second set tie-breaker after losing the first set. The match ended with a final score of 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Sprecher was defeated by No. 109 ranked Metka with a final decision of 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.

Sinha battled in a tough match against Steinbach at No. 5 before falling 6-3, 6-3

Strabo was unable to gain momentum in his match at No. 6 singles, falling 6-3, 6-3 to No. 97 ranked Callahan.

“It hurt us today that Wikberg was out and I really feel bad for him,” Van Emburgh added. “I know he was really looking forward to playing a match against Kobelt.

"He had a great win on Friday night, sometimes it’s just the way the chips fall, but we’ve got to try to band everybody together and try to get ready for next weekend.”

The Badgers host No. 73 Michigan State on Friday' April 11 at 5 p.m. (CT).

FINAL RESULTS

OHIO STATE 7                                              WISCONSIN 0

Doubles
1. Satral/Kokorev (UW) v. Kobelt/Steinbach (OSU) 6-4, unfinished
2. Metka/Pollanen (OSU) def. Jalalov/Sinha (UW) 8-4
3. Callahan/Diaz (OSU) def. Sprecher/Strabo (UW) 8-2

Order of Finish: (2, 3, 1 unfinished)

Singles
1. No. 8 Peter Kobelt (OSU) def. Alexander Kokorev (UW) 7-5, 6-1
2. Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Petr Satral (UW) 6-3, 6-2
3. Chris Diaz (OSU) def. Jakhongir Jalalov (UW) 6-1, 7-6 (4)
4. No. 109 Kevin Metka (OSU) def. Elliott Sprecher (UW) 6-4, 6-1
5. Ralf Steinbach (OSU) def. Michael Sinha (UW) 6-3, 6-3
6. No. 97 Hunter Callahan (OSU) def. Frederik Strabo (UW) 6-1, 6-0

Order of Finish (6, 5, 1, 4, 2, 3)