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No. 8 Men's Tennis stuns Ohio State, 4-3
03.15.2017 | Men's Tennis
Sophomore Rodrigo Banzer provides the clinching point in a third-set tiebreaker as the Longhorns knock off the Buckeyes in the latest cliffhanger between the two schools.
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas senior George Goldhoff, sophomore Leonardo Telles, freshman Yuya Ito and sophomore Rodrigo Banzer led a furious rally from a 3-0 deficit to deliver No. 8 Texas (14-4) a stunning 4-3 victory over No. 2 Ohio State (13-1) Wednesday afternoon at Caswell Tennis Center.
With the team score knotted at three, Texas' Banzer broke Ohio State's Kyle Seelig to stay in the third set at 5-all and held serve for 6-5. Seelig held serve for 6-all for force the decisive third-set tiebreaker.
Banzer jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and while Seelig pulled within 6-3, Banzer put away the ensuing point to close out the 4-3 Longhorns win.
Singles wins from Goldhoff, Telles and Ito set the stage for Banzer's heroics. Goldhoff, who defeated Ohio State's top-ranked Mikael Torpegaard in last year's NCAA Championships third-round thriller, came through against the Buckeyes once again. The Californian held on for a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win over OSU's 66th-ranked Herkko Pollanen at fourth singles to pull Texas within 3-1.
Telles and Ito pulled off three-set rallies to lead the Longhorns all the way back from their 3-0 deficit. Telles dropped his first set to Ohio State's Martin Joyce, 6-4 at fifth singles before taking command in set two, where he won 6-2. The Brazilian took on Joyce in a tight third-set tiebreaker and won by the slimmest of margins, as he prevailed 7-5 to keep the Horns in the match.
Ito took on Ohio State's third-ranked Hugo Di Feo in an incredibly tight contest at third singles. Ito dropped the first set, 6-4, and he held off Di Feo in challenging second set and claimed an ensuing tiebreaker, 7-4. Ito rallied from behind in the third set and pulled the Longhorns even with the Buckeyes with his 6-4 third-set win that set up Banzer for the clincher.
Ohio State opened the match by claiming the doubles point. The Buckeyes' 32nd-ranked tandem of Martin Joyce and Hugo Di Feo knocked off UT' sophomore Colin Markes and freshman Yuya Ito at second doubles, 6-0.
At first doubles, OSU's 15th-ranked duo of Mikael Torpegaard and Herkko Pollanen picked up the one service break they needed and held off UT senior George Goldhoff and sophomore Leonardo Telles, 6-4. The remaining match was suspended.
The Buckeyes posted a pair of three-set wins at the second and first singles slots to assume their 3-0 before the Longhorns rallied back for an incredible victory.
Texas continues non-conference play Friday afternoon when it hosts Columbia. First serve is set for 4:30 p.m. CT at Caswell Tennis Center.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
On the win today: Playing Ohio State is just tough. They've gotten the best of a lot of people. They don't lose much, they're very competitive and they're just a great, well-coached team up and down the line. Today, I told the guys, "This is a 50/50 match. Who's going to make that extra move? Who's going to have the aggressive play to go get it?" The very last point, I told Rodrigo [Banzer], "Go for it. Take that serve." He did a great job. I talk about team efforts a lot, but that was the ultimate team effort. Even the guys that lost, they went three sets, which keeps the momentum from turning on us too quickly. It was a great win for us today.
On the resilience of the team: Everyone throws that word around. It's such a coaching word, but it really was a resilient effort today on their part. To be down 3-0 to that team and come back and win is a heck of a resilient effort. I don't know that I've ever seen that happen.
On Banzer's win: He's a very good player. He was up 5-0 in the first today, and then the guy got it back. There were some areas where he was really up and down, but at the very end, when he really needed it, I thought he came up with some really great plays. I love having him in that situation and in that moment.
On how the past two top-10 victories prepare them for postseason: If you look at our schedule, counting Cal all the way through April, we have no easy matches. It's going to be like this every single match. I told the guys, "That was a great win. It was a great effort. We're going to enjoy it tonight, but tomorrow we have to come back and have a good hit because Columbia is a very good team. They beat TCU. They're a top-10 to top-15 team, and we've got to be professional and build and go forward with this. This isn't something we can sit around and relish too long. If we keep working match after match, day after day, I do think by May we will have the chance to compete with anyone.
On the crowd today: That was awesome. I just can't thank the fans enough. For them to show up today at 1:00 on a Wednesday afternoon and pack the place like that was just amazing. You could feel it. I think that was a big difference in the match. It kept the guys motivated. Thank you to the fans and hopefully we will see you guys again on Friday.
Texas sophomore Rodrigo Banzer
On the resilience of the team: The other guys lost a couple of first sets and then they came back, and then they were fighting for the third set. We are a team that fights a lot. It's not easy to play Ohio State. They have really good players. It was a special match today.
On his emotions down the stretch: I had a pretty bad start in the match. Then I started to play much better. I lost some deuces points. The second set I got more confidence with my game and my service, and I finished playing really well.
On having his teammates there to support him at the end: They helped me a lot. It was four-all in the third set, and I was pretty tired. At one point, I was down 4-5 in the third set and receiving. The other guys came and gave me a lot of support. I played for them, for me, and for Texas.
No. 8 Texas 4, No. 2 Ohio State 3
Doubles – Order of Finish: 2, 1
1 No. 15 Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (Ohio State) def. Leonardo Telles/George Goldhoff (UT), 6-4
2 No. 32 Martin Joyce/Hugo Di Feo (Ohio State) def. Colin Markes/Yuya Ito (UT), 6-0
3 Christian Sigsgaard/Julian Zlobinsky (UT) def. J.J. Wolf/Hunter Tubert (Ohio State), 5-5, susp.
Singles – Order of Finish: 2, 1, 4, 5, 3, 6
1 No. 1 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. No. 12 Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
2 J.J. Wolf (Ohio State) def. No. 70 Harrison Scott (UT), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3 No. 34 Yuya Ito (UT) def. No. 3 Hugo Di Feo (Ohio State), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4
4 George Goldhoff (UT) def. No. 66 Herkko Pollanen (Ohio State), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
5 No. 108 Leonardo Telles (UT) def. No. 111 Martin Joyce (Ohio State), 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
6 Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. Kyle Seelig (Ohio State), 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (3)
Players Mentioned
