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Ohio State
No. 9 Men’s Tennis preview: ITA National Indoor Championship
02.12.2015 | Men's Tennis
No. 9 seed Texas faces No. 8 seed Ohio State in the round of 16 at the ITA National Indoor Championship.
Match 8: #9 TEXAS (7-0) vs. #8 Ohio State (9-1)
ITA National Men's Tennis Indoor Championship - Round of 16
Date/Time: Friday, Feb. 13 • 3:30 p.m. Central
Site: Chicago, Ill. • Midtown Athletic Club
Event Home Page • @TexasMTN • Season Stats
Main Draw
NOTES
• Texas Men's Tennis joins 16 teams vying for the title of the 41st annual ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championship this weekend at the Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago, Illinois.
• The No. 9 seed Longhorns begin the tournament against No. 8 seed Ohio State on Friday at 3:30 p.m. Central. Texas is guaranteed three matches this weekend as the event features a winners and losers bracket. Texas will face No. 1 seed USC or No. 16 seed Penn State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Central.
• LAST SEASON AT THE ITA INDOORS: No. 13 seed Texas won its first-round match against No. 4 seed Georgia, 4-3, before losing to No. 5 Ohio State in the quarterfinals, 4-2. The Longhorns then defeated No. 11 North Carolina, 4-2, in the consolation round.
• BIG 12: Texas is one of four Big 12 Conference teams represented in the National Indoors (No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 9 Texas, No. 11 Baylor, No. 14 TCU).
• TOP-RANKED IN TEXAS: The Longhorns have been ranked No. 9 in all four ITA Rankings this season, and the top-ranked team in the ITA Texas Region for the last two weeks. Texas has been ranked in the top-10 in 16 of the last 17 polls dating back to last season. Two student-athletes -- No. 16 Søren Hess-Olesen and No. 65 Adrien Berkowicz -- represent Texas in the singles rankings.
• UNDEFEATED LONGHORNS: Søren Hess-Olesen (7-0) and Adrien Berkowicz (7-0) are undefeated in dual match play this season. Hess-Olesen is a two-time All-American and enters the weekend with nine consecutive victories and a 17-2 overall record. Berkowicz leads the team in total singles wins (19-6), including five over ranked opponents.
• STRONG SINGLES: Texas holds a 30-9 (.769) record in singles competition during dual match play. The Longhorns have at least four singles wins in each dual match this season, including an undefeated record at lines one and two.
• ALL-AMERICANS: The Longhorns return a pair of ITA All-Americans this season -- seniors Søren Hess-Olesen and Lloyd Glasspool. Hess-Olesen, a 2014 NCAA Singles Championship semifinalist, has earned All-American honors in singles twice (2013, 2014). Glasspool and Hess-Olesen earned doubles All-American honors last season as quarterfinalists in the NCAA Doubles Championship.
• COACH CENTER: Head Coach Michael Center is in his 15th season at Texas (291-102; .735) and his 24th overall as a head coach (449-170; .722).
• LAST TIME OUT: Texas improved to 7-0 with wins over Washington on Feb. 6 and Rice on Feb. 8 -- both wins were by scores of 6-1.
• ITA INDOORS SCORING FORMAT: The event will feature the new, shortened ITA format, which includes: No-ad scoring in singles and doubles; Three doubles matches played, each match one set to 6, with a tie-break at 6-all; Followed by six singles matches, each match 2 out of 3 sets, with tie-breaks at 6-all; No warm-up with opponents (in doubles and in singles).
TEXAS & OSU IN THE RANKINGS
Team
8. Ohio State
9. TEXAS
Singles
16. Søren Hess-Olesen
30. Mikael Torpegaard (OSU)
53. Chris Diaz (OSU)
65. Adrien Berkowicz
68. Ralf Steinbach (OSU)
110. Hunter Callahan (OSU)
Doubles
7. Kevin Metka / Ralf Steinbach (OSU)
36. Hunter Callahan / Chris Diaz (OSU)
