Around the Oval is Eleven Warriors' weekly love letter to Ohio State sports that don't get the coverage they should.
Peter Kobelt leads Bucks to regional titles
With Buckeye football just past the half-way point and basketball only a couple short weeks away, Ohio State fans have plenty to cheer about right now. It wasn't just the football team garnering national attention this past week, however.
The Ohio State men's tennis team swept the USTA/ITA Midwest Regionals for the third time in four years, led by senior Peter Kobelt. He captured both the singles title and the doubles title, with junior Kevin Metka.
With his victories, Kobelt became the second two-time Midwest regional champion in school history (joining current senior Blaz Rola).
Kobelt and Metka will now compete at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships from November 7-10 in Flushing, New York.
It was another busy week in Buckeye sports, so join us after the jump to see how the other Ohio State teams fared.
Soccer
The two Buckeye soccer teams combined for a win, a loss and a tie this past week. The men's team battled No. 16 Northwestern to a scoreless tie, while the Lady Bucks went 1-1 - dropping a match at Penn State before rebounding with a dominating win over Northwestern on Senior Day.
Goalkeeper Alex IvanovFor the men, Alex Ivanov's strong goalkeeping was the story once again. Ivanov made seven saves en route to his fifth shutout of the season. With the draw, Ohio State has tied three top-20 opponents in the last two weeks, including each of their last two games. Overall, the Buckeyes move to 2-6-5 (0-2-2) on the season and are still searching for their first conference win.
The Buckeyes return to action tonight against Oakland in non-conference action at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
In women's action, the Lady Bucks lost a hard fought match to the Nittany Lions on Thursday, 4-2. After Penn State took an early 2-0 lead, Ohio State fought back to tie the game at 2-2 in the second half with goals from freshmen Nichelle Prince and Morgan Wolcott before Penn State eventually pulled away for good.
On Sunday, Ohio State bounced back in a big way with a 6-1 victory over Northwestern on Senior Day. Nichelle Prince led the way once again with a hat trick. Kristen Niederhaus, Nicole Miyashiro and Alexis Degler also added one goal each for the Buckeyes. The win over Northwestern concludes the Lady Buckeyes home schedule, while they currently sit at 9-4-3 (3-2-2) on the season.
Next up for the Lady Bucks is a pair of road games - to Nebraska on Friday and to Iowa on Sunday.
Women's Volleyball
The Ohio State women's volleyball team continues to struggle, dropping a pair of matches this past week to Northwestern (3-1) and Illinois (3-1).
Against Northwestern, senior Kaitlyn Leary recorded her ninth double-double of the season, with 22 kills and 11 digs. Senior Julianne Mandolfo also chipped in defensively with a career-high 25 digs.
Sunday, the Lady Buckeyes fell again, losing the final three sets after winning the first. In the match, Leary became the 21st player in Ohio State history to total 1,000 kills in a career, recording a match-high 20 kills. Leary also had 16 digs to go along with the numerous kills, good for her 10th double-double of the season.
Ohio State has now lost four matches in a row and six out of their last seven. They look to get back on track tonight against Penn State and on Friday against Nebraska in a pair of matches against nationally-ranked opponents.
Cross-country
Both men's and women's cross-country teams competed in the Indiana State Pre-National Invitational this past weekend in Terre Haute. The men's team was led by sophomore Jordan Redd, the top Buckeye finisher for the fourth meet in a row. Redd finished 69th overall with a 24:23.77. Other scorers for the Buckeyes were Nick Pupino (24:36.36, 123rd), Curtis Hanle (24:55.72, 145th), Brian Hannaford (24:56.32, 147th) and Blake Taneff (25:28.31, 249th). The men finished 28th overall out of 52 competing teams.
The women's team placed 25th out of 51 teams behind a 38th place finish by Katie Bochers, who recorded a 6K personal record with a 20:55.31. Other scorers for the Buckeyes were Michelle Thomas (21:54.90, 171st), Helen Willman (22:08.42, 211th) and Nicole Hilton (22:14.81, 233rd).
Both teams are off until Nov. 3, when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind. for the Big Ten Championships.
UPCOMING Home EVENTS
Friday: Women's volleyball vs. Nebraska, 7 pm at St. John's Arena, Men's hockey vs. Robert Morris, 7:05 at Schottenstein Center
Saturday: Field Hockey vs. Indiana, 1 pm at Buckeye Varsity Field
Sunday: Men's Soccer vs. Cleveland State, 12 pm at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Tuesday: Men's Hockey vs. Bowling Green, 7:05 pm at Schottenstein Center
