The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Ohio State
No. 5 Men's Tennis falls to No. 4 Ohio State, 4-1
02.19.2011 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 19, 2011
SEATTLE - No. 5 Texas (8-1) claimed a tightly-contested doubles point but went on to suffer a 4-1 defeat at the hands of No. 4 Ohio State(11-0) Saturday in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Texas will take on either top-seeded Virginia or eighth-seeded Illinois in Sunday's consolation round at 5:30 p.m. Central.
Texas, traditionally strong in the doubles sessions, claimed the doubles point for the ninth time in as many matches this season. Ohio State came away with a victory at the first doubles slot, but Texas would rally with hard-fought victories at the second and third doubles slots to claim the doubles point. Leading 7-5 at second doubles, UT's Kellen Damico and David Holiner registered a service break of Ohio State's 10th-ranked Matt Allare and Peter Kobelt in the final game to claim an 8-5 victory.
Leading 8-7 at third doubles, Texas' Vasko Mladenov and Daniel Whitehead followed the lead of their Longhorns teammates at second doubles and broke the serve of Ohio State's Devin McCarthy and Balazs Novak in the decisive game to win the match, 9-7 and give UT the doubles point.
The Buckeyes evened the tally at one when OSU's 21st-ranked Chase Buchanan dealt UT's Andersen a 6-0, 6-2 defeat at second singles. Ohio State took a 2-1 lead when its 45th-ranked Allare posted a 6-1, 6-2 win over UT sophomore Ben Chen at fourth singles.
OSU assumed a 3-1 lead when Novak defeated Texas' Whitehead by a 6-4, 6-3 count at sixth singles. Texas' Damico won his second set, 6-1 after dropping the first to OSU's Ille Van Engelen at third singles, but Damico fell by a 6-3 count in the final set, as Ohio State clinched the victory. The remaining two matches were suspended.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
On the doubles session
"We got down a break at No. 1 and never threatened Ohio State's serve. Kellen Damico and David Holiner played terrific at No. 2 and controlled that match. At No. 3 it went back and forth. We were down, but we fought back and got it to 6-all. We were able to get that win by breaking them in the final game. The guys did a terrific job of getting that done."
On the singles session
"Ohio State is an explosive team, particularly indoors. They got on the board quickly, though we were able to hang in there for a while. Our guys kept fighting and would not go away. But, Ohio State just beat us. I give them credit, they were too good tonight."
#4 Ohio State 4, #5 Texas 1
ITA National Team Indoor Championship quarterfinals - Nordstrom Tennis Center
Doubles - Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
1 #6 Buchanan/Rola (OSU) def. #2 Corrie/Andersen (UT) - 8-5
2 #27 Damico/Holiner (UT) def. #10 Allare/Kobelt (OSU) - 8-5
3 Mladenov/Whitehead (UT) def. #66 McCarthy/Novak (OSU) - 9-7
Singles - Order of Finish: 2, 4, 6, 3
1 #5 Blaz Rola (OSU) vs. #91 Ed Corrie (UT) - 4-6, 6-3, 5-2 susp.
2 #21 Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. #55 Jean Andersen (UT) - 6-0, 6-2
3 #103 Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. #61 Kellen Damico (UT) - 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
4 #45 Matt Allare (OSU) def. Ben Chen (UT) - 6-1, 6-2
5 #93 Vasko Mladenov (UT) vs. #55 Devin McCarthy (OSU) - 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-2, susp.
6 Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Daniel Whitehead (UT) - 6-4, 6-3
