TULSA, Okla. - The No. 2-seed Ohio State men’s tennis team had its record-setting season cut short when it lost to seventh-seed Texas, 4-2, Sunday in the quarterfinals of the 2008 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships in Tulsa, Okla. The Buckeyes finish the season with a 35-2 record.

“It’s tough,” Ty Tucker, Ohio State head coach, said. “We just didn’t do what we needed to do in the start of the doubles match. We gave up 15 minutes of play that I haven’t seen our guys play like in a while. Last year, I over practiced them in the quarterfinals and we lost. This time I think I under practiced them. I haven’t been able to find the right mix. The most disheartening thing is I usually feel like I dot the “I”s and cross the “T”s, but today I don’t feel like I did that.”

The Buckeyes failed to win the doubles point for only the sixth time out of 37 matches this season. Freshmen Matt Allare and Shuhei Uzawa were upset at No. 3 doubles by Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala by an 8-4 score.

Juniors Bryan Koniecko and Steven Moneke, ranked 10th in the nation, quickly fell behind, 6-1, to ninth-ranked Kellen Damico and Ed Corrie at the top doubles spot. The Buckeye tandem reeled off three consecutive points to close the gap to, 6-4. However, the Texas duo eventually won the set, 8-5, to give the Longhorns a 1-0 lead heading into singles play. The loss at No. 1 doubles snapped Koniecko and Moneke’s 20-match doubles win streak. The pair is now 32-4 on the season.

The 14th ranked doubles pair of senior Drew Eberly and sophomore Justin Kronauge found themselves down, 6-3, to Miguel Reyes Varela and Luis Diaz Barriga at No. 2 doubles, but rallied to tie the match at 6-6. The Buckeye tandem was trailing 7-6 when play was halted.

The Buckeyes responded to their defeat in doubles by winning four of the six first sets in singles play. Ohio State’s singles line-up contained three freshmen. Uzawa, a native of Chiba, Japan, was upended by Diaz Barriga at No. 4 singles by a 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 score. Mason, Ohio, product Allare was the next Scarlet and Gray player to fall. He lost 7-6, 6-4 to Milan Mihailovic at the No. 5 spot.

Trailing 3-0, the Buckeyes fought back through the aid of Balazs Novak. The freshman from Nyireghyhaza, Hungary, dispatched Reyes Valera 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 singles to win his 20th-consecutive singles match. Ohio State tightened the score to 3-2 after No. 33 Moneke beat 41st ranked Damico 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 at No. 2 singles to extend his win streak to 28 matches.

No. 16 Koniecko, the 2008 Big Ten Player of the Year, won the first set of his match at the top singles spot against No. 10 Kutrovsky, 6-1. He then dropped the next two sets 6-2 and 6-3, which gave the Longhorns the match.

No. 19 Kronauge claimed the first set of his match against 47th-ranked Corrie at No. 3 singles in a tiebreaker, 7-6. The Centerville, Ohio, native trailed the tiebreak 4-1, but rallied to win 10-8. He was trailing the second set 5-3 before play was abandoned.

Ohio State finishes the season with only two losses for the third-consecutive year. The Buckeyes set the school record for most wins in a single season (35), longest dual match win streak (23) and best single-season winning percentage (.946).

The Buckeyes will be represented in both the 2008 NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships in Tulsa, Okla., at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center May 21-26 after the team portion of the event concludes.

Koniecko received the Big Ten’s automatic bid for the singles championship. Moneke and Kronauge are at-large selections in the field of 64 singles players.
Koniecko and Moneke received the Big Ten’s automatic bid for the doubles bracket. Eberly and Kronauge received an at-large bid to compete in the doubles section.

No. 7 Texas def. No. 2 Ohio State, 4-2
Sunday, May 18, 2008

Doubles
1. No. 9 Ed Corrie/Kellen Damico (Texas) def. No. 10 Bryan Koniecko/Steven Moneke (Ohio State)- 8-5
2. No. 14 Drew Eberly/Justin Kronauge (Ohio State) vs. No. 53 Luis Diaz Barriga/Miguel Reyes Varela (Texas)- unfinished
3. Dimitar Kutrovsky/Josh Zavala (Texas) def. Matt Allare/Shuhei Uzawa (Ohio State)- 8-4

Singles
1. No. 10 Dimitar Kutrovsky (Texas) def. No. 16 Bryan Koniecko (Ohio State)- 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. No. 33 Steven Moneke (Ohio State) def. No. 41 Kellen Damico (Texas)- 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
3. No. 19 Justin Kronauge (Ohio State) vs. No. 47 Ed Corrie (Texas)- unfinished
4. Luis Diaz Barriga (Texas) def. Shuhei Uzawa (Ohio State)- 6-1, 2-6, 6-1
5. Milan Mihailovic (Texas) def. Matt Allare (Ohio State) - 7-6 (4), 6-4
6. Balazs Novak (Ohio State) def. Miguel Reyes Varela (Texas)- 6-2, 6-2

Order of Finish: Doubles- 3,1 ; Singles- 5, 4, 2, 6, 1