Ohio State’s men’s tennis team is one step closer to winning its first national title after it beat the No. 8-ranked Columbia team on Thursday by a final score of 4-2. The Buckeyes advanced to their third straight NCAA semifinals.
It didn’t come easy, with the Lions winning two singles matches and challenging in two more after the No. 1 Buckeyes were able to take the advantage early on by winning the doubles point. Cannon Kingsley and Jack Anthrop were able to take the win on court three and after Justin Boulais and Andrew Lutschaunig lost on court two, Robert Cash and JJ Tracy were able to save the point with a 6-4 win.
Boulais, who is ranked No. 34 in the country individually, lost to No. 23 Michael Zheng in singles, but No. 19 Tracy was able to beat Nicolas Kotzen. No. 30 Anthrop dropped his match 6-2, 6-3 to Max Westphal of Columbia, but No. 17 Kingsley reclaimed the lead with a 6-2, 6-4 win.
The Buckeyes needed to win just one of the two remaining matches taking place, relying on Alexander Bernard, who was undefeated in singles this season going into the match and Robert Cash. Their two matches ended up mirroring each other for most of the time they played out.
Both Bernard and Cash lost their first sets 7-5 to put them both at a disadvantage.Cash and Bernard both also needed a second set tiebreaker, which they each won 7-5 to even their matches at one set apiece.
Both matches started with a 3-1 lead in the third set, Bernard leading and Cash trailing, but Hugo Hashimoto, Bernard’s opponent, came up limping and needed to take a medical timeout while at the same time Cash needed a medical timeout of his own on the other court.
Cash didn’t need to finish his match since Hashimoto’s injury affected him and Bernard cruised to a 6-1 win in the third set.
The Buckeyes will face off on Saturday against the winner of No. 4 TCU, who they beat earlier this season to win the ITA Indoor National Championship, and No. 5 Kentucky.
If you enjoyed this story, you will love Buckeye Sports Bulletin, the newspaper “For The Buckeye Fan Who Needs To Know More” since 1981. For four free trial issues of Buckeye Sports Bulletin with no obligation, click here. Your trial subscription will also include our big Football Preview Issue as well as free access to our website.
