Ohio State junior Justin Boulais backhands a return during his singles match against Tennessee freshman Shunsuke Mitsui at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center Feb. 4. Ohio State won 4-0. Credit: Casey Smith | Assistant Lantern TV Sports Producer
Down 5-6 and with their backs against the wall, No. 1 graduate Matej Vocel and junior Robert Cash lived up to their ranking.
Vocel swept his serve game and the duo fought to a tiebreaker, where leading 7-6 the Oklahoma State transfer would make a quick play at the net to secure the set and the doubles point for his team.
From then on the floodgates opened.
No. 3 Ohio State men’s tennis went on to a 4-0 victory Friday, knocking off Illinois in its first home match since Feb. 25.
The Fighting Illini (6-10) did not make it easy, giving the Buckeyes (16-2) a tough time in doubles to open the match. Sophomore JJ Tracy and junior Cannon Kingsley were tasked with fighting off a comeback bid by graduate Alex Brown and freshman Gabrielius Guzauskas, leading 5-2 before Illinois’ duo brought it within one in the 6-4 finish.
“I thought we were in control most of the match,” Kingsley said. “I think we just kind of stayed on them and showed that we weren’t going away.”
No. 61 graduate Olivier Stuart and redshirt junior Siphosothando Montsi defeated graduate Jake Van Emburgh and junior Justin Boulais, raising many nerves among players as they sought the early advantage.
“Doubles point is always huge, I’m not going to lie,” Vocel said. “Everyone was obviously a bit, I would say, nervous.”
Following the clutch performance from Vocel and Cash, however, the Ohio State trio of Van Emburgh, No. 7 Vocel and No. 10 Kingsley came out on fire, riding out the adrenaline boost to one-sided victories on each of their courts.
“Every time you win the doubles point you go in with huge confidence because we have so many good players,” Vocel said. “I was on fire, Cannon was on fire, Jake was on fire, so every time the team wins the doubles point they are on fire.”
Kingsley, after dropping two of his last three matches, seemed unstoppable as he rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Montsi, finishing first for the Buckeyes.
“I really wanted to get out with a good start, get my match done,” Kingsley said. “I lost my last one at Michigan, so I really wanted to come out and have a good day today, so I’m really happy with that performance.”
Van Emburgh was next to secure a point for the Buckeyes, looking in rhythm after only his second doubles appearance this season. Like his teammate before him, he picked up the 6-2, 6-1 victory against Brown.
Following not far behind was Vocel, who just like in doubles, closed things out for the Buckeyes. He capped off his day with a 6-2, 6-2 victory against No. 62 Stuart.
Standing out for the Illini was Guzauskas, taking a set off of No. 63 Cash 5-1 in an unfinished match.
Friday marked Ohio State’s first conference win of the calendar year, one it looks to build on in just two days.
The Buckeyes return to action at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center Sunday against No. 20 Northwestern, beginning at noon and live streaming on the Ohio State Buckeyes website.
