The No. 2 Ohio State men’s tennis team defeated No. 28 Notre Dame, 5-2, in their match at the Stickney Tennis Center on Wednesday afternoon.
“Anytime you can beat Notre Dame, it’s a great accomplishment,” coach Ty Tucker said after the match.
The afternoon began with doubles, where the Buckeyes won two of their three matches, earning them the doubles point and their first point of the match.
Doubles pair senior Balazs Novak and freshman Blaz Rola were the first to finish their match, winning, 8-2, against Notre Dame’s Tyler Davis and Greg Andrews.
Also winning their doubles match were senior Shuhei Uzawa and junior Chase Buchanan, who won, 8-6, against Notre Dame’s Casey Watt and Stephen Havens.
The only doubles loss of the match came on court one from doubles pair senior Matt Allare and sophomore Peter Kobelt, who fell to Notre Dame’s Spencer Talmadge and Niall Fitzgerald, 8-6.
Tucker said he was “a little disappointed” in a doubles loss on court one.
In singles action, the Buckeyes won four of their six matches, earning them four more points to give them five overall.
Rola was the first to finish his match against Notre Dame’s Watt, winning his sets, 6-3, 6-0.
“It was nice to see Rola come out and have a solid match,” Tucker said.
Also winning for the Buckeyes were Allare, who won his sets, 6-3, 6-4, sophomore Devin McCarthy, who won, 6-3, 6-3, and Buchanan, who won his sets, 6-1, 6-3.
Even though Buchanan said he had been under the weather for a few days, he said the win was a good one.
“They’re a good team,” he said. “And our record against them is terrible, so it was a good win.”
Freshman Ille Van Engelen and Novak’s matches ended in defeat for the Buckeyes, giving Notre Dame its only two points of the match.
After seeing the match, Tucker said the team needs to continue to work on getting used to playing outdoors and working on its doubles game.
The Buckeyes will travel to Madison, Wis., on Friday to take on Wisconsin at 3 p.m.
