April 8, 2012

The 47th-ranked Minnesota men’s tennis team put forth a solid effort, but dropped a 6-1 decision to No. 3 Ohio at the Baseline Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon. Freshman Mathieu Froment helped the Gophers avoid being swept by rallying to beat Connor Smith in a match tiebreaker in No. 6 singles.

As they had in 25 of their first 26 matches, the Buckeyes earned a point in the doubles competition.

Smith and Peter Kobelt put OSU in front with a win over Phillip Arndt and Jack Hamburg at No. 3. Ohio State clinched the point when Blaz Rola and Chase Buchanan, the top-ranked doubles duo in the nation, handed 22nd-ranked Rok Bonin and Julian Dehn their second loss of the spring in 14 matches with an 8-5 win.

The Buckeyes completed the sweep when the No. 39-ranked combination of Devin McCarthy and Ille Van Engelen came out on top of a back-and-forth contest with Juan Pablo Ramirez and Leandro Toledo, 8-6. The loss dropped Ramirez and Toledo to 10-1. It was the Gopher tandem’s first match at the No. 2 position.

In singles, fifth-ranked Rola, No. 69 McCarthy, and No. 54 Kobelt won in straight sets at the first, fifth, and third positions, respectively, to clinch the win.

Toledo fell at the No. 2 position to 12th-ranked Buchanan in three sets after winning the first set 6-2 and Dehn was edged in a close match at No. 4, 7-6 (2), 7-5.

Froment then completed a comeback win at No. 6 to make it a 6-1 final. The freshman fell behind after losing the first set 7-5, but won the second set 6-3 and capped the victory with a 10-8 triumph in the match tiebreaker.

The win by Froment mark the third point conceded by Ohio State in eight Big Ten matches this season. Ohio State is now 25-2 on the year with an 8-0 conference record while the Gophers are 9-6 with a 4-3 mark in the Big Ten.

Next week, Minnesota will travel to No. 33 Indiana and No. 72 Purdue. The Gophers will conclude their home schedule against 68th-ranked Nebraska on April 20 before playing their final regular-season match at Iowa two days later.

The Big Ten tournament in Evanston, Ill. will begin on April 26.

Apr. 8, 2012
Baseline Tennis Center • Minneapolis, Minn.
No. 3 Ohio State 6, No. 47 Minnesota 1

Singles Competition:
1. No. 5 Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Rok Bonin (MINN) 6-1, 6-1
2. No. 12 Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. No. 80 Leandro Toledo (MINN) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
3. No. 54 Peter Kobelt (OSU) vs. Phillip Arndt (MINN) 6-4, 6-3
4. Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. Julian Dehn (MINN) 7-6 (2), 7-5
5. No. 69 Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. Jack Hamburg (MINN) 6-3, 6-3
6. Mathieu Froment (MINN) def. Connor Smith (OSU) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (8)

Doubles Competition:
1. No. 1 Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola (OSU) def. No. 22 Rok Bonin/Julian Dehn (MINN) 8-5
2. No. 39 Devin McCarthy/Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. Juan Pablo Ramirez/Leandro Toledo (MINN) 8-6
3. Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith (OSU) def. Phillip Arndt/Jack Hamburg (MINN) 8-4

Match Notes:
No. 47 Minnesota 9-6 (4-3 Big Ten)
No. 3 Ohio State 25-2 (7-0 Big Ten)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,5,3,2,4,6)