North Carolina
Ohio State
Tar Heels Fall At Second-Ranked Ohio State
February 26, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 26, 2012
COLUMBUS, OHIO - Second-ranked Ohio State proved its mettle against North Carolina Sunday evening, defeating the Tar Heels 6-1 at the Varsity Tennis Center. Featuring a lineup full of national-ranked players, the Buckeyes improved to 14-1 on the season while the Tar Heels slipped to 3-4.
The Buckeyes started the match quickly, taking all three doubles matches to go up 1-0. The wins included victories at #1 singles by Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola, the nation's #1-ranked doubles team, over Brennan Boyajian and Esben Hess-Olesen of UNC, and by #27-rated Devin McCarthy and Ille Van Engelen over Carolina's Joey Burkhardt and Jose Hernandez.
The Buckeyes won a quartet of singles matches in straight sets to clinch the match. #12 Rola defeated #91 Boyajian at #2 singles 6-1, 6-2 and another nationally-ranked matchup at #1 singles resulted in a Buckeye win to make the score 3-0. 16th-ranked Buchanan defeated 32nd-ranked Hernandez 6-4, 6-4 at #1 singles.
Ohio State continued its stellar play with 65th-ranked Devin McCarthy defeating William Parker 6-1, 6-2 at #5 singles and 99th-ranked Ille Van Engelen winning over Joey Burkhardt 7-6, 6-2 at #4 singles. At #6 singles, freshman Oystein Steiro broke through to win a set for Carolina but fell to 107th-ranked Connor Smith in the end, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
Carolina then got a gutty win from freshman Eseben Hess-Olesen. After falling in the first set 7-6, the Denmark native rallied to win the second set 6-4. He then earned the match win by winning a super tiebreaker 10-7.
UNC will continue its road trip when it opens 2012 Atlantic Coast Conference play on Wednesday against Boston College at 6 p.m. in Longmeadow, Mass.
#2 Ohio State 6, #17 North Carolina 1
Doubles (Team Winning Majority Of Matches Earns One Team Point)
Order of match finish: 3, 1, 2
1. #1 Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola (OSU) d. Brennan Boyajian and Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC), 8-4
2. #27 Devin McCarthy and Ille Van Engelen (OSU) d. Joey Burkhardt and Jose Hernandez (UNC), 8-6
3. Peter Kobelt and Connor Smith (OSU) d. Cameron Ahari and Oystein Steiro (UNC), 8-6
Singles (One Team Point Per Singles Match)
Order of match finish: 2, 1, 5, 4, 6, 3
1. #16 Chase Buchanan (OSU) d. #32 Jose Hernandez (UNC), 6-4, 6-4
2. #12 Blaz Rola (OSU) d. #91 Brennan Boyajian (UNC), 6-1, 6-2
3. Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) d. Peter Kobelt (OSU), 6-7, 6-4, 10-7
4. #99 Ille Van Engelen (OSU) d. Joey Burkhardt (UNC), 7-6, 6-2
5. #65 Devin McCarthy (OSU) d. William Parker (UNC), 6-1, 6-2
6. #107 Connor Smith (OSU) d. Oystein Steiro (UNC), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
Records: North Carolina 3-4, Ohio State 14-1
Players Mentioned
