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Rocky Balboa never played tennis.
But that doesn’t matter for Ohio State freshman Paloma Escobedo. The mindset of the Philadelphia comeback boxer displayed on the big screen comes in handy.
“I kept thinking like a boxer,” Escobedo said. “If you knock someone down, you’re going to keep punching them.
“I use the boxing analogy of Rocky because that’s my favorite thing. When I’m in my matches, I think that way.”
Escobedo helped the Buckeyes to a 5-2 road win to close the regular season by defeating Penn State senior Katelyn BeVard 7-5 and 6-3 in first singles.
“I was a little nervous because I was playing the No. 1 spot,” Escobedo said. “I hadn’t won in my last three matches at No. 2, but I was getting better.
“I kind of felt like I just needed to play my game and show the heart I have.”
Escobedo took a 5-3 lead in the first set before BeVard came back to snatch the next two games.
“I just let go a little bit,” Escobedo said. “I knew I needed to get that first match because she was a senior and had quite a bit of experience. I knew she wasn’t going to back down.
“I tried to outsmart her. I was going to beat her if it was going to take ’til midnight.”
The OSU freshman “sucked” it up to take the next two games and earn the first set victory. After losing the first point of the second set, Escobedo came back to win six of the next eight games.
“I was telling myself to stay with my game because I had already beaten her,” Escobedo said. “The confidence factor of winning the first match helped.”
OSU (19-6, 6-4 Big Ten) earned a split on the final regular season weekend, beginning Friday with a 6-1 loss to No. 23 Michigan. The Buckeyes lost the doubles point on a tiebreaker and four of the six singles matches went to three sets.
Julie Blackmore and Cami Hubbs doubled up Michigan’s Whitney Taney and Rika Tatsuno 8-4 in No. 2 doubles, while Hubbs went on to earn a 3-6, 6-4 and 6-3 win in No. 4 singles over Tania Mahtani.
The Buckeyes began the Penn State match by sweeping the doubles courts for the opening point.
“We really did a great job in doubles and went on to play some good singles matches,” OSU coach Chuck Merzbacher said. “Christina Keesey won quick and so did Julie.”
No. 4 seed OSU travels to Purdue Friday for the Big Ten tournament against No. 4 Illinois in the quarterfinals. The Buckeyes lost to Illinois 5-2 at home earlier this season.
“I wish we could play them (today),” Merzbacher said. “We’d like to have that match back and we’re looking forward to have another shot at them.
“This is a revenge match for us,” he said. “They beat us at home and we feel like we’re the better team. Now we need to prove it.”
Brad Morris can be reached at [email protected].
