University of Michigan Team Page
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team dropped the doubles point and the first three singles matches off the court in a 4-0 loss to No. 4 Ohio State in the championship match of the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday afternoon (April 28) at the Buckeyes' Varsity Tennis Center.
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Buckeye Varsity Tennis Center)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Final)
Score: #4 Ohio State 4, #23 Michigan 0
Records: U-M (16-9), Ohio State (31-2)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sun., May 10-12 -- at NCAA Regionals (Site TBA)
Ohio State grabbed an early 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point with victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. OSU's top tandem of Peter Kobelt and Connor Smith, ranked 14th in the latest ITA rankings, clinched the point for the Buckeyes, winning three of the final four games to knock off senior Evan King (Chicago, Ill./Kaplan) and junior Shaun Bernstein (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview Old Bethpage JFK),8-4, at the top of the lineup.
Facing a 1-0 deficit, U-M needed to rebound quickly, but Ohio State won all six first sets in singles play to take control of the match. Sophomore Michael Zhu (Princeton, N.J./Keystone National) fell to 95th-ranked Chris Diaz, 6-2, 6-2, to give Ohio State a 2-0 lead. At No. 6, junior Alex Buzzi (Key Biscyane, Fla./Gulliver Prep) could not overcome Constantin Christ, as Christ won 6-1, 6-2, pushing OSU's advantage to 3-0.
The Buckeyes clinched the match from the No. 3 position, where 67th-ranked Connor Smith downed junior Barrett Franks (Christchurch, New Zealand/Shirley Boys'), 6-3, 6-3.
The Wolverines now await their selection for the NCAA Tournament, with the first round beginning on Friday, May 10 or Saturday, May 11. The NCAA Selection show will be on Tuesday (April 30, 5 p.m.) and can be watched online at NCAA.com.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 11 Evan King (U-M) vs. No. 9 Peter Kobelt (Ohio State), 6-7 (2), 0-1 DNF
No. 2 -- Alex Petrone (U-M) vs. No. 12 Blaz Rola (Ohio State), 1-6, 4-5 DNF
No. 3 -- No. 67 Connor Smith (Ohio State) d. Barrett Franks (U-M), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 -- No. 123 Vlad Stefan (U-M) vs. No. 88 Devin McCarthy (Ohio State), 4-6, 4-4 DNF
No. 5 -- No. 95 Chris Diaz (Ohio State) d. Michael Zhu (U-M), 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 --Constantin Christ (Ohio State) d. Alex Buzzi (U-M), 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 14 Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith (Ohio State) d. No. 30 Evan King/Shaun Bernstein (U-M), 8-4
No. 2 -- Alex Petrone/Michael Zhu (U-M) vs. No. 75 Devin McCarthy/Ille Van Engelen (Ohio State), 4-7 DNF
No. 3 -- No. 46 Blaz Rola/Kevin Metka (Ohio State) d. Barrett Franks/Alex Buzzi (U-M), 8-5
Order of Completion: Singles 5-6-3, Doubles 3-1
