Big Ten Quarterfinal Recap & Announcement of Conference Award Winners

Tagged with: Big Ten

Summary

• Ohio State sweeps Big Ten awards for mens tennis; All-conference teams announced
• #1 seed Ohio State advanced to the semifinals of Big Ten Mens Tennis Championships (BTMTC) with 4-0 win over host Iowa.
• #4 seed Minnesota eliminated #5 seed Indiana from not only the BTMTC, but likely, consideration for the NCAA Tournament at-large bid with a 4-1 victory.
• #2 seed Illinois handled the weather and #7 seed Penn State
• #3 seed Michigan received a tough challenge from Wisconsin, but prevailed to the semifinals
• Semifinals start tomorrow at 12 noon EDT. I will be there providing coverage on Twitter. You can follow me on Twitter @OtMarcwMrClutch with latest coverage.

Recap

#1 seed Ohio State: 4, @ #8 seed Iowa: 0

#1 seed Ohio State were all business and defeated tournament host Iowa in under two hours Friday morning at Hawkeye Tennis & Recreational Complex. Iowa came in with a 23-7 doubles records, but meant Ohio State took the doubles point for the 14^th straight match with wins on court 1 and 2. Martin Joyce/JJ Wolf were first off with 6-2 win over Kareem Allaf/Jonas Larsen, while Mikael Torpegaard/John McNally improved to 11-0 as a pairing with a 6-3 victory over Will Davies/Piotr Smietana.

Ohio State carried the momentum from doubles to win 5 of 6 first sets and closed out the team match shortly thereafter with wins on courts 2, 3, and 6. Wolf double bageled Smietana before court 1 or 4 were even done with their first sets. McNally extended Ohio States lead to 3-0 with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Joe Tyler. Joyce and Seelig for Ohio State were racing to finish and Joyce ended up clinching the match for Ohio State with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Davies.

Quotes from Ohio State:

We got down in the doubles point and were able to scrap and got a little lucky. Were still trying to get used to outdoor tennis. Its been a crazy spring with not a lot of good weather and today it was a bit breezy. Iowa is a very good team whos good at doubles and very good at Nos. 4, 5 and 6. So to be able to escape doubles and then to take care of two courts where we thought we needed to win (courts 2 and 3) was good for us. Its never easy to have to play the host school in the first round. – Head Coach Ty Tucker

Quotes from Iowa:

“I thought we played a good match. Ohio State is a really good team. They are No. 3 in the country and have won 10 of the last 12 Big Ten tournaments. I’m proud of the effort of our guys today and all season long. It’s been a good year. We have advanced the program. I am thankful for seniors Josh and Jake. They have meant a lot to the rise of this program over the past four years. Now it’s the freshmen and sophomores’ turn to carry the torch and take us to the next level.” Head Coach Ross Wilson

Josh and I hope that we changed the culture here. We have a young team with a lot of returners next year. I’m excited to follow them and see them reach new heights. They will take this program back to the NCAA Tournament soon.” Senior Jake Jacoby

 

#4 seed Minnesota: 4, #5 seed Indiana: 1               

Minnesota avenged their regular season loss to Indiana to advance to the semifinals of the BTMTC. The Golden Gophers took the doubles point with victories at court 1 and 3 doubles. Felix Corwin/Josip Krstanovic bageled Bennett Crane/Keivon Tabrizi on court 1, while Marino Alpeza/Stefan Milicevic clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory over Zac Brodney/Raheel Manji.

Minnesota jumped with 4 of the 6 first sets in singles. Alpeza and Milicevic extended Minnesotas lead to 3-0 with comfortable wins on court 6 and 3, respectively. Cembellin trimmed Minnesotas lead to 3-1 with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Matic Spec on court 2. Indiana, battling for their postseason life, fought back to force third sets on courts 4 and 5. However, Corwin closed the door with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Manji on court 1 to clinch the match and most likely, ended Indianas chances for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.           

       

Quotes from Minnesota:

The conditions were a lot different: indoors at their place versus outdoors at a neutral site, said head coach Geoff Young on the difference between this meeting and the teams regular season outing. We did a better job with doubles, and that can make a difference when you have a good start. I give credit to Indiana as they didnt give up. I like how they fight. Today, we came out on top, but its two close teams.

We are going to have to use our chances, said Young about the rematch. We need to make decisions consistent with us playing our best and not just playing it safe.

 

#2 seed Illinois: 4, #7 seed Penn State: 0        

#7 seed Penn State needed to win this match to have any chance of an at-large bid, but were swept out by #2 seed Illinois. Illinois changed their doubles lineup and ended up securing the doubles point with some ease. Freshman Caleb Chakravarthi/Alex Brown dominated Alp Sentay/Christos Antonopoulos 6-1 on court 1 and Vik Budic/Aleks Vukic clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory over Ben Lieb/Christian Lakoseljac.

In extremely windy conditions, Illinois took all six first sets and raced to the finish line. Brown was first off with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Gabriel Nemeth, followed by Aron Hiltzik with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Constant De La Bassetiere. Zeke Clark clinched the match and a semifinal berth with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Antonopoulos. Illinois will next play at 3 pm EDT Saturday in the semifinals.

 

 

#3 seed Michigan: 4, #6 seed Wisconsin: 1          

The last quarterfinal match to finish pitted #6 seed Wisconsin versus #3 seed Michigan. The doubles point came down to court 2 as Mattias Siimar/Runhao Hua defeated Daniel Soyfer/Osgar OHoisin, 6-3. Previously, Alex Knight/Harrison Brown won 6-2 over Lamar Remy/Chase Colton before Chema Carranza/Josef Dodridge tied it for Wisconsin with a 6-3 victory over Myles Schalet/Connor Johnston

With the wind picking up even more, Michigan gutted out five first sets, including all three that ended in tiebreakers. Carter Lin extended Michigans lead to 2-0 with the easiest match of the day; a 6-4, 6-4 victory over OHoisin. M. Siimar was able to capitalize on a late break in the second set against Remy. Carranza got the lone point for Wisconsin with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Schalet. With the other two matches in the third set, Alex Knight pulled out a 7-6(8), 6-4 win over Soyfer to clinch it for Michigan. Michigan will next play at 3 pm EDT Saturday against Illinois in the semifinals.

Quote from Wisconsin:

“I am extremely proud of the fight and competitiveness we showed today in the really tough conditions we were faced with. Michigan is known for their positivity and energy and I thought we did a good job of matching that with our own. We lost to a very good team but gave it our very best at several positions. Head Coach Danny Westerman

 

 

Ohio State, the outright Big Ten regular season champs, also swept the individual awards, which were announced Thursday. Senior Mikael Torpegaard picked up his second Athlete of the Year honor. He had previously won in 2016. John McNally beat out fellow Buckeye Tim Seibert and Illinois Alex Brown to become the fourth straight Buckeye to win Freshman of the Year, following Mikael Torpegaard (2015), Hugo Di Feo (2016), and JJ Wolf (2017). Additionally, head coach/director of tennis Ty Tucker won his 13^th Big Ten Coach of the Year award. Since 2006, Tucker has won 12 of the 13 Big Ten Coach of the Year awards.

Also announced Thursday was the Big Ten all-conference teams, which were voted on by the coaches from each of the 12 schools that sponsor mens tennis. Below is the complete list:

Robert Krill, Wisconsin