The Ohio State men’s tennis team fell short of defending its ITA Indoor national title Sunday, falling to the North Carolina Tar Heels 4-0 in the semifinals.
For the first time all season, the Buckeyes dropped the doubles point to get off on the wrong foot. John McNally and Robert Cash fell 2-6 to William Blumberg and Brian Cernoch of UNC. James Trotter and Justin Boulais then lost a tight 4-6 contest to Simon Soendergaard and Mac Kiger, resulting in a 1-0 lead for North Carolina.
In singles, things didn’t go much better. Justin Boulais fell to Rinki Hijitaka 2-6, 2-6 to give the Tar Heels a quick 2-0 lead. Robert Cash then lost 1-6, 2-6 to Simon Soendergaard and the Buckeyes were suddenly in a huge 3-0 hole. James Trotter then lost a tight one 4-6, 5-7 to Brian Cernoch and the run was over.
For Ohio State, it was bound to happen at some point. The Buckeyes had been on an unbelievable run of knocking off top-ten opponents, but it was not meant to be Sunday as the Buckeyes were off their game at the wrong time.
Final from Madison
Buckeyes 0, Tar Heels 4
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioStateMTEN) February 16, 2020
OSU will try to rebound when it’s next in action against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana on February 22.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.
We have a forum and message board now. Get in on the conversation about Ohio State athletics by joining the Buckeyes Wire Forum.