College Tennis News - Bulldogs Fall To No. 4 Buckeyes

COLUMBUS, Ohio-----The sixth-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team suffered its first loss of the season Sunday, falling to No. 4 Ohio State, 5-2, at OSU’s Varsity Tennis Center.

Georgia’s points came at Nos. 1 and 6 singles. Eighth-ranked KU Singh knocked off the nation’s top-ranked player, Peter Kobelt, 7-5, 7-6(8), and freshman Nick Wood won for the second time this year with a 6-7(5), 6-4, 1-0 (10-3) super tiebreaker victory over Hunter Callahan at No. 6.

Singh improved to 11-4 on the season and picked up his eighth win over a ranked opponent.

The Buckeyes (8-0) won doubles matches at Nos. 1 and 3 to take a 1-0 lead. At No. 3, Georgia’s Garrett Brasseaux and Eric Diaz fell to Kevin Metka and Blaz Rola, 8-3, then OSU clinched the point at No. 1 where Kobelt and Connor Smith topped the fifth-ranked Bulldog tandem of Hernus Pieters and Ben Wagland. Nathan Pasha and Singh led Devin McCarthy and Ille Van Engelen, 6-5, when the match was suspended.

In singles, McCarthy extended the Ohio State lead to 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Wagland at No. 3, and No. 30 Chris Diaz defeated freshman Austin Smith, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 5 to make it 3-0.

No. 13 Connor Smith clinched the match for the Buckeyes at No. 4 with his 6-4, 6-1 win over 16th-ranked Pieters. At No. 2, 19th-ranked Pasha fell to Blaz Rola, 6-3, 7-5. Georgia (3-1) then closed out the match with wins by Singh and Wood.

Up next, the Bulldogs will face Georgia Tech in Atlanta Friday at 4 p.m.

Tennis Match Results
Georgia vs. Ohio State
Feb 3, 2013 at Columbus, Ohio
(Varsity Tennis Center)

#4 Ohio State 5, #6 Georgia 2

Singles competition
1. #8 KU Singh (UG) def. #1 Peter Kobelt (OSU) 7-5, 7-6 (10-8)
2. Blaz Rola (OSU) def. #19 Nathan Pasha (UG) 6-3, 7-5
3. Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. Ben Wagland (UG) 6-3, 6-3
4. #13 Connor Smith (OSU) def. #16 Hernus Pieters (UG) 6-4, 6-1
5. #30 Chris Diaz (OSU) def. Austin Smith (UG) 6-1, 6-4
6. Nick Wood (UG) def. Hunter Callahan (OSU) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 1-0 (10-3)

Doubles competition
1. Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith (OSU) def. #5 Hernus Pieters/Ben Wagland (UG) 8-3
2. Devin McCarthy/Ille Van Engelen (OSU) vs. KU Singh/Nathan Pasha (UG) 5-6, unfinished
3. Blaz Rola/Kevin Metka (OSU) def. Eric Diaz/Garrett Brasseaux (UG) 8-3

Match Notes:
Georgia 3-1; National ranking #6
Ohio State 8-0; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3,5,4,2,1,6)
Official: Vince Solomon T-3:30 A-505