College Tennis News - No. 4 Ohio State Beats No. 24 LSU, 7-0

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The fourth-ranked Ohio State men’s tennis team beat No. 24 LSU, 7-0, Sunday afternoon at the Varsity Tennis Center in Columbus, Ohio. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 12-2, while LSU drops to 4-2.

No. 62 Blaz Rola clinched the victory for the Scarlet and Gray at No. 2 singles. Facing Tam Trinh, Rola surrendered only one point en route to a 6-0, 6-1 win. Rola, a junior, improves to 9-0 on the season and 2-0 on court No. 2.

The two other victories needed to reach four points came from wins in Nos. 6 and 5 singles. Constantin Christ defeated Boris Arias on court six by a score of 6-1, 6-0. On court five it was No. 37 Chris Diaz with a 6-1, 6-0 win of his own vs. Harrison Kennedy.

Doubles
With wins on court two by the pair of Devin McCarthy and Ille Van Engelen and on court three by Rola and Kevin Metka, the Buckeyes entered the singles competition with a 1-0 lead. McCarthy and Van Engelen won their fourth-consecutive match and gave the Scarlet and Gray an early advantage when they beat No. 35 Stefan Szacinski and Chris Simpson, 8-5. The next Buckeye victory came from Rola and Metka, who recently were named to the 2013 ITA Team Indoor Championship All-Tournament Team, when they finished at No. 3 doubles with an 8-6 victory vs. Olivier Borsos and Arias. Rola and Metka have now won seven consecutive matches, all on court No. 3.The final Ohio State duo to claim victory was Peter Kobelt and Connor Smith, ranked 35th in the nation. They finished their match on court No. 1 with an 8-5 win over Roger Anderson and Trinh.

Playing it Out
Three Buckeyes finished out their matches after the fourth point was won. Smith, a senior from Tampa, Fla., was a 6-2, 6-0 winner vs. Szacinski at No. 4 singles. Shortly after McCarthy closed out a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles. Finally, Kobelt concluded the day with a 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 victory vs. Simpson.

Up next, Ohio State will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., where the Buckeyes and Tarheels will square-off at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

#4 Ohio State 7, #24 LSU 0

Singles competition
1. Peter Kobelt (OSU) def. Chris Simpson (LSU) 7-6 (11-9), 6-4
2. Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Tam Trinh (LSU) 6-0, 6-1
3. Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. Olivier Borsos (LSU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Connor Smith (OSU) def. Stefan Szacinski (LSU) 6-2, 6-0
5. Chris Diaz (OSU) def. Harrison Kennedy (LSU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Constantin Christ (OSU) def. Boris Arias (LSU) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. #36 Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith (OSU) def. Roger Anderson/Tam Trinh (LSU) 8-5
2. Devin McCarthy/Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. #35 Chris Simpson/Stefan Szacinski (LSU) 8-5
3. Blaz Rola/Kevin Metka (OSU) def. Olivier Borsos/Boris Arias (LSU) 8-6

Match Notes:
LSU 4-2; National ranking #24
Ohio State 12-2; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,5,2,4,3,1)
Official: Mark Anderson A-184