Texas A&M
Ohio State
Aggies Pull Near Upset Of No. 3 Ohio State, 4-3
Mar 07, 2010 | Men's Tennis
March 7, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The 17th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis pulled off a near upset of 2009 NCAA runner-up and third-ranked Ohio State with a hard-fought 4-3 loss on Sunday afternoon at the OSU Varsity Indoor Tennis Center.
The Aggies (7-4) won three singles matches to keep them within striking distance of the Buckeyes (12-1) after dropping the doubles point for the first time in five matches. Junior Alexey Grigorov (Moscow, Russia) tied the match up at one-all with a 6-1, 6-3 straight-set victory over No. 91-ranked Shuhei Uzawa at the No. 4 line, while freshman Alberto Bautista (McAllen, Texas) added another point on the board for A&M winning in three sets over Matt Allare, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4), at No. 5. Both OSU players were members of last year's 36-2 squad that reached the men's national championship title match in College Station.
Junior Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.), ranked No. 33 nationally in the Campbell/ITA singles rankings, won the last match standing versus No. 47-ranked Dino Marcan, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, at No. 2, but it wasn't enough for the Aggies' late rally over OSU. It was A&M's first-ever road match in Columbus in four all-time meetings with the Buckeyes.
"We had a lot of good effort out there today," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "We were disappointed at Illinois on Friday night, but today's effort was a lot better across the board. If we can continue to play like we did today against one of the top teams in the country, we are going to be a lot more successful this year. We had our chances to win. (Austin) Krajicek lost his first match of the year and we didn't win the doubles. That's how close it was. We had more of our guys really competing hard and fighting for every point in this match - the kind of stuff we need to happen on a consistent basis. When we get that from everybody on our team, we are a top 10-level team and I like our chances against anyone."
Last season, the Aggies lost a close 4-3 decision against the then fifth-ranked Buckeyes at the City of Bryan Indoor Tennis Center. They swept the doubles point, while former All-American Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas) and junior All-American Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) won in singles. Krajicek, ranked No. 16, had his undefeated seven-match win streak halted by No. 23-ranked Chase Buchanan, 6-3, 7-6 (3), at the top of the lineup on Sunday.
"The difference with this year's Ohio State team is that they are young with talented players, but they do not have the same senior leadership they did with (former players) Bryan Koniecko and Steven Moneke who were great leaders on their team," Denton said. "We let the matches get away at home indoors and really let them off the hook last year. This year, I really didn't feel like we were ever ahead, but our team showed a lot of character towards the end and all of the matches were pretty close. I'm very proud of their effort today."
The Aggies return home to face their second-straight top 10 opponent in No. 10 California on Friday, March 12 at 6 p.m. (CT) at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
(3) OHIO STATE 4, (17) TEXAS A&M 3
March 7, 2010
OSU Varsity Indoor Tennis Center
at Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 228
SINGLES
No. 1 - (23) Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. (16) Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M), 6-3, 7-6 (3).
No. 2 - (33) Jeff Dadamo (Texas A&M) def. (47) Dino Marcan (OSU), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4.
No. 3 - (30) Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. Alexis Klegou (Texas A&M), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
No. 4 - Alexey Grigorov (Texas A&M) def. (91) Shuhei Uzawa (OSU), 6-1, 6-3.
No. 5 - Alberto Bautista (Texas A&M) def. Matt Allare (OSU), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4).
No. 6 - Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Colin Hoover (Texas A&M), 6-1, 6-1.
DOUBLES
No. 1 - Chase Buchanan-Dino Marcan (OSU) def. (9) Austin Krajicek-Jeff Dadamo (Texas A&M), 8-7 (5).
No. 2 - Matt Allare-Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Alberto Bautista-Alexey Grigorov (Texas A&M), 8-5.
No. 3 - Balazs Novak-Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. Marcus Lunt-Alexis Klegou (Texas A&M), 8-4.
ORDER OF FINISH
Singles: 4, 6, 1, 5, 3*, 2
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Players Mentioned
