Ohio State excellence is not exclusive to the football field or the basketball court. Around the Oval is our way of keeping you informed of the amazing things happening with the other 34 varsity sports on campus.
All Buckeye Final
For the fourth-straight year, there is an Ohio State singles champ at the men's ITA Midwest Regional.
OSU's Herkko Pollanen and Chris Diaz both reached the finals and competed for the tournament title and a sport in the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championship.
Herkko Pollanen emerged victorious, defeating Chris Diaz in straight sets. He lost only one set throughout the entire tournament.
Herkko Pollanan is your 2015 ITA Midwest Regional Champion. He downed Chris Diaz 6-3, 7-5. #GoBucks
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioState_MTEN) October 26, 2015
Pollanen will join Buckeye sophomores Mikael Torpegaard and Hugo Di Feo at the national indoor championships next month.
A similar situation almost occurred in doubles. Two Buckeye doubles teams, Ralf Steinbach/Martin Joyce and Matt Mendez/Hunter Tubert, advanced to the semi-finals but were both defeated.
Ohio State impressed on the women's side as well. Juniors Sandy Niehaus and Ferny Angeles Pas advanced to the quarterfinals after toppling the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds, respectively.
In doubles, another all-Buckeye final occurred, as Anna Sanford/Miho Kowase topped Ferny Angeles Paz/Sandy Niehaus to win the doubles title and advance to the indoor national championships.
The regular season doesn't start until late January, but these tournament performances should leave both teams feeling optimistic.
Streak Snapped
The Ohio State men's soccer team entered the weekend in first place, and on a program-record eight-match winning streak. OSU hadn't been defeated since
Goalkeeper Chris Froschauer has been named B1G Defensive Player of the Week for the third straight week. He's the second player in history to accomplish this.
dropping their Big Ten opener against Northwestern, Sept. 11.
All good things must come to an end.
Rutgers defeated the Buckeyes 1-0 in Piscataway, Sunday afternoon, ending Ohio State's streak and supplanting them as conference leaders.
The match featured the conference's best goalkeeper – OSU's Chris Froschauer – versus the Big Ten's top striker in Rutgers' Jason Wright. Froschauer made a season-high eight saves, but Wright was able to get one past him in the 74th minute, and that was all they needed. The goal marked the first time Ohio State trailed in over 991 minutes.
Despite the loss, the Buckeyes still control their own destiny in the conference race. With wins against Maryland and Michigan at home, Ohio State will win the Big Ten regular season title and secure the top seed in the conference tournament.
Women's Volleyball Stumbles
Unranked Michigan State swept No. 6 Ohio State in three sets, Wednesday, giving them their first loss in seven matches and ending their longest conference win streak since 2006.
The Buckeyes bounced back immediately with a hard fought four-set win over No. 25 Michigan.
No set decided by less than the minimum required two-point margin tonight. Buckeyes bring back a 25-23, 23-25, 28-26, 28-26 triumph.
— OhioStateWVolleyball (@ohiostatewvball) October 25, 2015
Ohio State is in a great position to win the conference, but they'll need a strong late-season push to survive a brutal schedule. Over half the team's remaining matches are against ranked opponents, starting with back-to-back matches against No. 5 Penn State.
The first match between the No. 6 Buckeyes and the No. 5 Nittany Lions will be on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in St. John Arena in Columbus. It will also broadcast live on ESPNU.
Other Scores and News
- Men's Hockey: Dropped two games against No. 3 Providence 2-1 and 6-4.
- Women's Hockey: Won two matches against Minnesota State 5-3 and 4-0
- Women's Soccer: Lost to No. 10 Penn State 2-1.
- Field Hockey: Fell to No. 16 Northwestern 2-0 and defeated California 6-3 on senior day.
- Rifle: Defeated UTEP and Army in first home meet of the season.
What's Happening This Week
- Men's Soccer: Host Maryland, Saturday.
- Women's Volleyball: Faces No. 5 Penn State, Wednesday and travel to Penn State Saturday.
- Men's Hockey: Battles Mercyhurst, Friday and Saturday.
- Women's Hockey: Hosts Bernidji State, Friday and Saturday.
- Women's Soccer: Faces Michigan State, Wednesday on senior day and season finale.
- Field Hockey: Travel to Kent State and Michigan.
- Men's Cross Country: Competes in Big Ten Championships, Sunday.
- Women's Cross Country: Competes in Big Ten Championships, Sunday.
