University of Minnesota Athletics
Ohio State Takes Big Ten Unbeatens Battle
3/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
A battle of Big Ten unbeatens went to Ohio State on Sunday as the Buckeyes took a 7-0 victory from Minnesota in Columbus, Ohio.
Both teams entered the match 3-0 in league play, but the sixth-ranked Buckeyes overpowered Minnesota by sweeping the doubles matches and taking all six singles contests in straight sets. Ohio State is 19-1 overall and has now won 44 straight Big Ten matches and 84 straight home matches while snapping Minnesota’s four-match win streak. The 27th-ranked Gophers fell to 14-4 overall.
Minnesota had two players force tiebreakers against highly-ranked foes as Ishay Hadash lost his No. 1 singles contest to third-ranked Bryan Koniecko 6-3, 7-6 and Phillip Arndt fell to 21st-ranked Justin Kronauge 6-1, 7-6 at No. 4.
Sebastian Gallego battled eighth-ranked Steven Moneke to a 6-3, 6-2 setback at No. 3, while Dino Bilankov also took on a ranked foe and lost to 100th-ranked Matt Allare 6-1, 6-4 at No. 5. Tobias Wernet lost his No. 2 singles contest to Chase Buchanan 6-3, 6-2 and Julian Dehn dropped his match at No. 6 to Balazs Novak by the same score.
In doubles, Wernet and Dehn fell to Koniecko and Shuhei Uzawa in a tiebreaker by a 9-7 count at No. 2. Arndt and Bilankov were defeated by 41st-ranked Moneke and Novak 8-4 at No. 3, while Hadash and Gallego lost to Kronauge and Allare 8-5.
The Gophers return home next weekend and face Indiana on Friday at 3 p.m. at the Baseline Tennis Center.
#6 Ohio State 7, #27 Minnesota 0
Doubles
1. Justin Kronauge/Matt Allare (OSU) def. Ishay Hadash/Sebastian Gallego (MINN) 8-5
2. Bryan Koniecko/Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Tobias Wernet/Julian Dehn (MINN) 8-7 (9-7)
3. #41 Steven Moneke/Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Phillip Arndt/Dino Bilankov (MINN) 8-4
Singles
1. #3 Bryan Koniecko (OSU) def. #62 Ishay Hadash (MINN) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
2. Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. Tobias Wernet (MINN) 6-3, 6-2
3. #8 Steven Moneke (OSU) def. Sebastian Gallego (MINN) 6-3, 6-2
4. #21 Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. Phillip Arndt (MINN) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
5. #100 Matt Allare (OSU) def. Dino Bilankov (MINN) 6-1, 6-4
6. Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Julian Dehn (MINN) 6-3, 6-2
Match Notes:
Minnesota 14-4, 3-1 Big Ten; National ranking #27
Ohio State 19-1, 4-0 Big Ten; National ranking #6
Players Mentioned
