The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Ohio State
No. 9 Men’s Tennis takes No. 8 Ohio State to the wire
02.13.2015 | Men's Tennis
Longhorns lose first match of the season to defending ITA National Indoor Champions, Ohio State.
ITA National Indoor Championship - Round of 16
#8 Ohio State (10-1) def. #9 TEXAS (7-1), 4-3
• Results
• Season Stats
• ITA National Indoors Home Page
• Main Draw
CHICAGO, Ill. -- Ninth-ranked Texas Men's Tennis rallied late, but were edged by Ohio State on Friday evening, 4-3, in the ITA National Indoor Championship round of 16. The Buckeyes (10-1), reigning National Indoor champions, gave the Longhorns (7-1) their first loss of the season.
"It was a great match today. I'm disappointed that we lost, but we are improving as a team," Head Coach Michael Center said. "This tournament has a way of making teams better and stronger later in the season and I see that progression with this team. We have another great opportunity tomorrow against Penn State."
Texas narrowly lost a tiebreaker to decide the doubles point and fell behind, 2-0, after a straight-set loss at No. 5 singles. But the Longhorns responded by continuing its dominance on the front line of singles play.
Senior All-American Søren Hess-Olesen notched his 10th consecutive singles victory by defeating Ohio State's 53rd-ranked Chris Diaz, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 1 singles. It marked 16th-ranked Hess-Olesen's eighth win over a ranked opponent this season.
Senior All-American Lloyd Glasspool tied the team score, 2-2, after notching his first win over a ranked opponent this season, defeating 30th-ranked Mikael Torpegaard, 7-6 (4), 6-4, at No. 2 singles. Glasspool has won four consecutive singles matches and is 7-2 in his last 10 matches.
Ohio State briefly took a 3-2 lead with a three-set victory at No. 5 singles, but senior Adrien Berkwoicz held court at No. 3 singles to keep Texas in the match. 65th-ranked Berkowicz, 20-6 overall and 8-0 during dual match play, defeated Ohio State's Herkko Pollanen, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-2, at No. 3 singles.
UT's first three lines of singles play are a combined 21-2 this season, including a 16-0 mark at lines one and two.
Ohio State clinched the match at No. 6 singles as Kevin Metka defeated freshman John Mee, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, in three sets.
The Longhorns and Buckeyes will meet again on Tuesday, March 17 (4 p.m. Central, Longhorn Network) in Austin.
Texas will face No. 16 Penn State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Central in the ITA National Indoor Championship consolation round. Each of the 16 teams in the tournament is guaranteed at least three matches in Chicago this weekend.
