Junior Kevin Metka returns the ball during a match against North Carolina Feb. 28 at the Varsity Tennis Center. OSU won, 4-1.
Credit: Ben Jackson / For The Lantern
Four match points for the Volunteers proved to be one too many for the Buckeyes.
The Ohio State men’s doubles duo of senior Peter Kobelt and redshirt junior Kevin Metka fell in the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Doubles Championship Monday afternoon in Athens, Ga., to Hunter Reese and Mikelis Libietis of the University of Tennessee in three sets, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-7 (6).
The match was a close one, as each set was determined in a tie breaker, with Kobelt and Metka falling just short of the title.
After losing the first set, thanks to the match’s first tie breaker, the Buckeyes found themselves in an hole as the Volunteers had multiple opportunities to secure the second set and the National Championship with a single point.
OSU fought its way back and forced another tie breaker in the second set, this time earning the win in the tiebreaker and sending the match into the third set.
Kobelt and Metka got an early lead in what proved to be a back-and-forth final set, before the Volunteers forced yet another tie breaker – this one to determine the National Champion.
In the tiebreaker, Libietis and Reese took a quick 3-0 lead, but the Buckeyes bounced back yet again and staved off another match point to tie things up at 6-6.
A Tennessee winner forced the Buckeyes to fend off another match point, but Libietis and Reese proved to be too much as they earned the elusive match point and won the National Championship.
Kobelt was a win away from holding the single-season school record of 45 wins, but remains tied for the top-spot with Chase Buchanan, who played for the Buckeyes from 2008 to 2012. Kobelt also holds the OSU record for most career doubles wins with 142 career victories during his four years in Columbus.
