Well. 6 Mens Tennis falls to No. 2 Ohio State, 4-0

Columbus, Ohio Well. 6 Texas Men’s Tennis fell to No. 2 Ohio State, 4-0, at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center in Columbus on Sunday. It was the first loss of the season for the Longhorns, who are now 5-1 as they return home to the Texas Tennis Center for a pair of matches this weekend against Pepperdine and No. 17 Arizona.

Texas struggled with doubles points throughout the first half of the match as Ohio State won the only two at singles and then all 10 in the first six sets on the singles court. The Longhorns turned it around in the second period, winning nine of 12, but it was too late to put the game away.

The double points both came at No. 2 and were decisive in the match as juniors Hi Woldeab and a sophomore Pierre-Yves Bailly Justin Boulais and Robert Cash fell 6-2. With each team holding their first possession, the Longhorns were well positioned for the first break on any court with a 15-40 lead, but the Buckeyes were able to hold on. Texas also led 40-30 on the next play, but Ohio State came back again and was able to claim the first break and take a 3-1 lead, which they extended to a 4-1 run. Both teams held their next possession before the Buckeyes broke through again for the win.

Ohio State then reached the doubles point at No. 1, where the Juniors’ No. 7 duo Cleeve Harper and Eliot Spizzirri fell to Andrew Lutschaunig and James Trotter, 6-3. In that match, the Buckeyes took a 4-3 lead when they secured the lone break of the match at 5-3 before going on a 6-3 run. The remaining match at No. 3 with the senior pair Chi Chi Huang and junior Ishaan Talluri Cannon Kingsley and JJ Tracy stayed in the bid throughout to give Ohio State a 5-4 lead at the stoppage time.

In singles play, the Buckeyes extended their 2-0 lead over Cash to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Huang at No. 6. They then followed with a pair of 6-1, 6-4 Trotters. Well. 13 Woldeab at No. 3 and No. 90 Alexander Bernard over junior No. 30 Micah Braswell at 4. Despite Trotter passing first at 3 and Braswell first at 4, both firsts followed the exact same scoring pattern with Ohio State winning the doubles with 3-0 and 5-1 leads. while the Longhorns won their game 3-1.

In the second set of Woldeab’s match, although he won two of three deuce points, he both came on serve to lead 2-1 and later 5-4, meanwhile Trotter’s deuce win led to the only break of the set. , giving him a 3-2 lead, which he held onto for a 6-4 win. Braswell had four deuce points in the second set, three of which were won by Braswell, but all four led to breaks as seven of the ten sets in the set were breaks. Braswell was broken in the opening game at deuce point, but Bernard secured the tie and started a 4-0 run that included another break that came at deuce point. Braswell rallied to win three of the next four games with second point breaks at 4-3 and 5-4, but Bernard grabbed one final break to take the match to Ohio State.

In the remaining matches, Texas had dropped the first sets in each, but was leading or tied in all of those second sets. No. 3 Eliot Spizzirri he had three deuce points in the first set at No. 1, all of which went in favor of his opponent Boulais, who led 7-5, 2-3 at the stoppage. The first set remained on offer all the way to 5-5 thanks to Boulais’ first deuce point win at 4-4, but his second and third deuce point wins provided the only break, followed by another win. All five games of the second set were then on serve when it ended.

Bailly was in a similar situation against No. 2 No. 5 Tracy, as Tracy won all three deuce points in the first set to lead 6-2, 2-3 at the end of the game. Bailly had grabbed the opening break, but Tracy broke at deuce point to start a 4-0 run that also included another deuce break at 3-1. The next two games were then on offer until Tracy collected her third deuce point break to take the set. In the second, the first four games were held on serves, including Bailly’s hold on deuce point at 1-1, and then he broke deuce point for a 3-2 lead as the match stopped.

At No. 4, Harper was trailing Jack Anthrop 6-4, 4-4 at the time. Anthrop started serving and the set stayed there for most of the way until he got the break he needed to win in the final game. Anthrop then opened the second period with a 4-0 run, but Harper responded with back-to-back two-point wins in the final two games.

The Longhorns now return home to the Texas Tennis Center to face Pepperdine on Friday, February 10 at 5 p.m. CT, followed by a rematch with No. 17 Arizona on Sunday, February 12 at 1 p.m. CT. The Wildcats just visited Austin for the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Texas won a matchup with No. 14 Arizona 4-0 on January 29th.

#2 Ohio State 4, #6 Texas 0

Individual goal order (6,3,4)
1. Justin Boulais (OSU) vs. #3 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 7-5, 2-3, def.
2. #5 JJ Tracy (OSU) vs. Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-2, 2-3, def.
3. James Trotter (OSU) def. #13 Hi Woldeab (UT) 6-1, 6-4
4. #90 Alexander Bernard (OSU) def. #30 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-1, 6-4
5. Jack Anthrop (OSU) vs. Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-4, 4-4, def.
6. Robert Cash (OSU) def. Chi Chi Huang (UT) 6-0, 6-0

Double goal order (2,1)
1. Andrew Lutschaunig/James Trotter (OSU) def. #7 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-3
2. Justin Boulais/Robert Cash (OSU) def. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Hi Woldeab (UT) 6-2
3. Cannon Kingsley/JJ Tracy (OSU) vs. Chi Chi Huang/Ishaan Talluri (UT) 5-4, unf.