Ohio State
Bulls Bow Out in NCAA Tournament to 11th-Ranked Ohio State
5/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
COLUMBUS, OH – The University at Buffalo, State University of New York men's tennis team held its own making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, but fell Friday in the first round to 11th-ranked Ohio State at the Stickney Family Varsity Tennis Courts, 4-0.
"My expectation was for us to do exactly what we did – go out there and fight and let the chips fall where they may," said sixth-year head coach Lee Nickell. "I'm certainly proud of the way our guys fought. Ohio State was just a little better than us."
The Buckeyes (26-8), who are undefeated at home in the NCAA Tournament, claimed the doubles point from the Bulls (12-11), securing victories at the first and second positions. OSU went on to take the first, sixth and second singles matches to earn the victory and a spot in Saturday's second round. The Buckeyes have advanced past the first round in 15 of their 16 NCAA appearances.
Mikael Torpegaard and Hunter Callahan jumped out to a 6-0 gap en route to defeating juniors Amar Hromic and Pablo Alvarez, 8-1, at second doubles. The Bulls' top team of sophomore Jonathan Hannestad and junior Sergio Arevalillo battled the Buckeyes' Kevin Metka and Herkko Pollanen early holding a 2-1 edge. Ohio State surged to take a 4-2 lead, but UB pulled within 4-3 winning the following game. Metka and Pollanen went on to claim the match, 8-3, locking in the doubles point for OSU. The third doubles match between senior Damien David and junior Akhil Mehta and the Buckeyes' Ralf Steinbach and Chris Diaz was called in Ohio State's favor, 7-2.
Torpegaard, ranked 55th nationally, defeated Damien, 6-0, 6-2, at first singles to give the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead. After trailing 4-0 in the second, David battled to win two of the next three games and sneak within 5-2.
At sixth singles, Arevalillo held a 3-2 edge in the first set, but fell to Matt Mendez, 6-3, 6-0, as OSU pulled ahead, 3-0, in the overall score.
Finalizing the match for OSU, 50th-ranked Diaz posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory at second singles. Alvarez put up a fight early, taking a 2-0 advantage in the first set and tying up the second, 1-1.
Three matches went unfinished. At the third position, senior Sebastian Ionescu took one game from Pollanen in both sets, but trailed 6-1, 2-1. Hannestad claimed two games in the first and second sets, trailing Callahan, 6-2, 5-2, at four. At five, Hromic had won a total of six games against 104th-ranked Steinbach, but was down 6-3, 4-3, before the match was called.
With their 16th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the Buckeyes improve to 40-15 in the postseason all-time, while ending the Bulls' record-setting 2014-15 season.
DOUBLES
No. 1: Metka/Pollanen (OSU) def. Hannestad/Arevalillo (UB), 8-3
No. 2: Torpegaard/Callahan (OSU) def. Hromic/Alvarez (UB), 8-1
No. 3: David/Mehta (UB) vs. Steinbach/Diaz (OSU), DNF 2-7
Order of Finish: 2, 1
SINGLES
No. 1: #55 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. Damien David (UB), 6-0, 6-2
No. 2: #50 Chris Diaz (OSU) def. Pablo Alvarez (UB), 6-2, 6-1
No. 3: Sebastian Ionescu (UB) vs. Herkko Pollanen (OSU), DNF 1-6, 1-2
No. 4: Jonathan Hannestad (UB) vs. Hunter Callahan (OSU), DNF 2-6, 2-5
No. 5: Amar Hromic (UB) vs. #104 Ralf Steinbach (OSU), DNF 3-6, 3-4
No. 6: Matt Mendez (OSU) def. Sergio Arevalillo (UB), 6-3, 6-0
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 2
