Even after knocking off Virginia on Sunday there were still some doubt about whether the Buckeyes could win another big match against a top-notch program like USC.  After 2 hours and 6 minutes of tennis we had our answer.  

 

So how did Ohio State do it, well they started off by falling down a break and trailed 2-0 at both #2 and #3 doubles.  Ohio State’s #3 duo of Chris Diaz and Ralf Steinbach would then kick it up a few notches and would take 5 straight games to open up a 5-2 lead only to see USC’s Eric Johnson and Max De Vroome take the next 2 to get it back on serve including a break of the Steinbach serve at 15-40 when Steinbach was serving for the match.  Over on court #2, after USC’s Roberto Quiroz and Connor Farren opened up a 2-0 lead, Ohio State’s Herkko Pollanen and Hunter Callahan would take 3 straight games to go up 3-2 before the USC pair would take the next 3 to move 1 game away from a win.  Meanwhile at #1 doubles there would be no breaks of serve until the 10th game which found USC’s Yannick Hanfmann serving at 4-5.  After falling behind 0-30 in his service game, Hanfmann would get it back to 30 all.  The Kobelt/Metka duo would take the next point to have 2 match points and after Hanfmann erased the first one Metka would put a volley away at the net on the 40-40 point to give Ohio State the win at #1 6-4.  While USC received serve up 5-3 at #2 doubles, USC’s Max De Vroome would fall behind 0-40 on his serve at #3 doubles with the Trojans trailing 4-5.  After erasing the first 2 break points the USC pair would not be able to erase a 3rd and with the break Ohio State would claim the match at #3 doubles 6-4 and thus claim the overall doubles point.  Ohio State 1-0

 

The doubles point was big for Ohio State because it then meant the Buckeyes would just need to split the 6 singles matches to get the win. 

 

In singles play, Ohio State would serve first on all 6 courts but would quickly go down a break at 2, 3, and 4 as USC’s Yannick Hanfmann would break Ohio State’s Chris Diaz at #2, USC’s Roberto Quiroz would break Ohio State’s Herkko Pollanen at #3 and USC’s Connor Farren would break Ohio State’s Ralf Steinbach at #4.  All 3 would lead 3-1 in the 1st. 

 

At #1 singles there were no breaks of serve in the 1st 7 games but Ohio State’s Peter Kobelt would break USC’s Ray Sarmiento to go up 5-3 then would serve out the 1st set and take it 6-3.  The first set at #6 singles would follow the same blue print with 7 straight holds before Ohio State’s Hunter Callahan would break USC’s Jonny Wang to up 5-3 and then Callahan would hold for the 1st set and take it 6-3. 

 

Down at #5 singles, USC’s Max De Vroome would get the 1st break of the opening set by breaking Ohio State’s Kevin Metka on the 40-40 point at 3-3 with a backhand service winner down the line.  Metka would then immediately break back at 15-40 to even it at 4 all and they would then exchange holds to head to a 1st set tiebreak.  

 

At roughly the same time the match at #4 singles between Connor Farren and Ralf Steinbach would also head to a first set tiebreak.  After Farren opened up a 3-1 lead in the 1st set, Steinbach took the next 3 games to go up 4-3 and the two exchanged holds to take it to a tiebreak.  In that 1st set tiebreak Farren would jump out to a 4-2 lead but a double fault by Farren would let Steinbach back in.  The double fault put it back on serve and Steinbach would then take the next 4 points to take the tiebreak 7-4. 

 

Jumping back over to #5 singles, neither De Vroome nor Metka would ever have more than a 1 point lead in the tiebreak and with Metka serving at 5-6, De Vroome would smack a Metka 2nd serve down the line to take the opening set 6-5(5).

 

With both Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz finishing out the opening sets at #2 and #3 that would mean each team would have 3 1st sets. 

 

The first match to reach it’s conclusion would come at #6 singles with Ohio State’s Hunter Callahan breaking USC’s Jonny Wang early in the second set then holding serve the rest of the way to take the match 6-3, 6-4.  Callahan would not drop a set the entire week and in fact would not drop more than 4 games in a set.  Ohio State 2-0

 

A few minutes later Yannick Hanfmann would get USC on the board as Hanfmann would defeat a pesky Chris Diaz in straight sets 6-5(4), 6-3.  Ohio State 2-1

Next to finish would be Ohio State’s Peter Kobelt as he would break Ray Sarmiento on the 3-3 service game in the 2nd set.  Kobelt would then hold 2 more times and close it out 6-3, 6-4.  Ohio State 3-1

 

It looked like USC’s Roberto Quiroz would finish his match next at #2 singles with a set and a break lead but Ohio State’s Herkko Pollanen would rally with a late break to put it back on serve.

 

All eyes then turned to the back courts as Ohio State’s Ralf Steinbach was closing in a victory and match clincher at #4 singles.  Steinbach would break Farren’s serve to go up a set and 5-4 and while serving for the match would open up 30-0 lead on his serve.   Farren would take the next 3 points, which would give him 2 break points at 30-40, but this was Ralf Steinbach’s day and he took the next 2 to seal the win.  Ohio State 4-1

 

In the remaining 2 matches on court, at #2 singles USC’s Roberto Quiroz was serving at 6-2, 4-5 against Herkko Pollanen and at #5 singles Ohio State’s Kevin Metka was serving at 5-6, 4-5 against Max De Vroome.

Final Box Score:

Ohio State 4 USC 1

 

1. #23 Peter Kobelt (OSU) def. #7 Ray Sarmiento (USC) 6-3, 6-4
2. #16 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. Chris Diaz (OSU) 6-5 (7-4), 6-3
3. Roberto Quiroz (USC) vs. Herkko Pollanen (OSU) 6-2, 4-5, unfinished

4. Ralf Steinbach (OSU) def. Connor Farren (USC) 6-5 (7-4), 6-4
5. Max De Vroome (USC) vs. Kevin Metka (OSU) 6-5 (7-5), 5-4, unfinished

6. Hunter Callahan (OSU) def. #47 Johnny Wang (USC) 6-3, 6-4

 

1. #2 Peter Kobelt/Kevin Metka (OSU) def. #35 Ray Sarmiento/Yannick Hanfmann (USC) 6-4
2. Roberto Quiroz/Connor Farren (USC) vs. Herkko Pollanen/Hunter Callahan (OSU) 5-3, unfinished

3. Ralf Steinbach/Chris Diaz (OSU) def. Eric Johnson/Max De Vroome (USC) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,2,1,4)
ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship Finals T-2:06

 

#1 Singles:  Soren Hess-Olesen (Texas) & Peter Kobelt (Ohio State) – Co #1s for this one - The Longhorn junior was a perfect 3-0 on the week with wins over Georgia’s Austin Smith, Ohio State’s Peter Kobelt, and California’s Ben McLachlan while the Buckeye senior went 3-1 with wins over Florida's Stephane Piro, Virginia's Mitchell Frank, USC's Ray Sarmiento.  

#2 Singles:  Alex Domijan (Virginia) – The Cavalier senior went 3-0 on the week with wins over Notre Dame’s Quentin Monaghan, Cal’s Campbell Johnson, and Ohio State’s Chris Diaz

#3 Singles:  Roberto Quiroz (USC) – The Trojan junior went 2-0 on the week with wins over Baylor’s Mate Zsiga and UCLA’s Mackenzie McDonald.  Quiroz’s other 2 matches did not finish though he had a set lead in both.

#4 Singles:  Ralf Steinbach (Ohio State) – The Buckeye redshirt freshman went 3-0 on the week with wins over Florida’s Florent Diep, Virginia’s Justin Shane and USC’s Connor Farren (Clinched Championship).   Steinbach also had 4 match points in his match with Texas’s Adrien Berkowicz when it  was halted due to the team clinch. 

#5 Singles:  Kevin Metka (Ohio State) – The Buckeye redshirt junior went 2-0 on the week with wins over Texas’s Nick Naumann and Virginia’s Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (match clincher).  Metka’s 2 other matches did not finish.

#6 Singles:  Hunter Callahan (Ohio State) – The Buckeye redshirt junior went 4-0 on the week with wins over Florida’s Michael Alford, Texas’s Sudanwa Sitaram, Virginia’s Jordan Daigle, and USC’s Jonny Wang.  Callahan didn’t drop a single set along the way and in fact didn’t even have a match that went to a tiebreak. 

 

Tournament MVP – Ralf Steinbach (Ohio State)