Around the Oval: Tennis Teams, Softball, Men's Volleyball Stay Perfect in Conference, Men's Lacrosse Drops Two

By TJ Neer on April 3, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Mikael Torpegaard and Herkko Pollanen celebrate after a doubles win.
Ohio State Athletics.
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Four teams were able to keep their conference record perfect with wins this week, including both men's and women's tennis.

Tennis

Both of OSU's tennis teams sit at No. 2 nationally (and both have the No. 1 singles player in their sport) and each continued to show their dominance on the court with some Big Ten wins this week.

On the men's side, the Bucks took on Iowa March 31 and Nebraska April 2. In those two matches, the team was flawless, winning by a combined score of 14-0.

In the matchup with Iowa, redshirt freshman Alex Kobelt was particularly impressive, and was also able to get his first-ever Big Ten win with 6-0, 6-0 win over the Hawkeyes' Tony Leto.

Against Nebraska, the Buckeyes were dominant again. In singles, no Buckeye lost even a single set and both senior Herkko Pollanen and junior Hugo Di Feo won their matches 6-0, 6-0.

Junior Mikael Torpegaard was able to keep his record perfect and is now 19-0. The team now sits at 20-3 and 4-0 in the Big Ten.

The women's team played two matches Friday and one Monday. They were 3-0 on the weekend with a combined score of 20-1 against their opponents.

Facing off against Rutgers for the first of two games Friday, senior Miho Kowase was able to pick up her 100th career singles win as a Buckeye.

According to this tweet, Kowase is the third Buckeye in women's tennis history to have triple-digit wins, joining Kristy Dascoli (104, 1998-01) & Monica Rincon (101, 1999-02).

Baseball/Softball

Ohio State softball pushed itself into the top 25 this week by showing off an explosive offense. In four games this week, the Bucks outscored their opponents 46-4.

Four Buckeyes hit two home runs each throughout the week, with sophomores Emily Clark and Lilli Piper, junior Taylor White and senior Alex Bayne each hitting two into the stands.

Piper has been extremely impressive as of late, as she's hitting .576 with 19 RBI and five home runs in her last 10 games and she's also hitting .700 against Big Ten opponents this season.

The team is now 22-7 on the season and 6-0 in Big Ten play.

The baseball Bucks weren't able to match the softball team's success, as they finished 2-2 on the week with wins coming in a one-game set against Ohio University and the first game of their series against Purdue.

In their wins, the Buckeyes outscored the Bobcats and Boilermakers 16-2, including a 13-2 drubbing of Purdue that saw the Buckeye pitching staff go seven innings before allowing a run. 

In their losses, though the Bucks kept it a bit closer as they lost 6-1 Saturday and 2-1 Sunday, both coming against Purdue.

Men's Volleyball

No. 1 Ohio State men's volleyball captured its 26th regular season MIVA Conference Championship, good for most in conference history with a win over McKendree Friday, and beat them again Sunday to clinch the outright title.

Overall, the Bucks were 2-1 on the week with their only loss coming on the road against No. 13 Penn State Tuesday before sweeping McKendree in two matches over the weekend.

Senior Miles Johnson racked up 47 kills and 14 digs throughout the week, while junior Nicolas Szerszen tallied 37 kills and 21 digs.

LAcrosse

Just two weeks after taking down then-No. 1 Denver in Ohio Stadium, the men's lacrosse team has suffered two losses to No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Penn State. Both losses came on the road.

Freshman midfielder Tre Leclaire remained hot for the Buckyes, though, as he racked up six goals in the two games.

Ohio State is now 9-2 on the season and 0-1 in Big Ten play.

Ohio State women's lacrosse lost their only matchup this week, 16-12, at No. 5 Penn State.

Two Buckeyes stood out with four-goal performances against the Nittany Lions: sophomore Baley Parrott and junior Molly Wood.

Freshman goalie Jillian Rizzo tallied 13 saves in the loss, including this gem:

Other Events

Women's golf finished 10th out of 17 at the Clemson Invitational in Sunset, S.C. Senior Jessica Porvasnik finished tied for eighth in the field of 94 competitors as an individual.

Women's gymnastics finished fifth out of six at the NCAA Regional. Junior Alexis Mattern posted a 39.250, good enough for her to advance to the NCAA Championships April 14 in St. Louis.

Upcoming

April 5

Baseball vs. Kent State

April 6

Women's Lacrosse vs. Northwestern

April 7

  • Softball vs. Michigan
  • Men's Tennis vs. Indiana
  • Baseball @ Penn State
  • Women's Tennis @ Iowa
  • Women's Soccer vs. Ohio
  • Men's Volleyball @ Lindenwood
  • Men's Gymnastics, Big Ten Championships (Champaign, Ill.)
  • Track & Field, Sea Rays Relays (Knoxville, Tenn.)

April 8

  • Baseball @ Penn State
  • Softball vs. Michigan
  • Men's Soccer @ Ohio Northern
  • Women's Volleyball vs. Cincinnati
  • Men's Volleyball @ Quincy
  • Women's Rowing vs. Iowa (Bloomington, Ind.)
  •  Men's Golf, Cabarrus County Irish Creek Intercollegiate (Kanaapolis, N.C.)
  • Field Hockey, Northwestern Tournament (Evanston Ill.)
  • Men's Gymnastics, Big Ten Championships (Champaign, Ill.)
  • Track & Field, Sea Rays Relays (Knoxville, Tenn.)

April 9

  • Men's Tennis vs. Purdue
  • Softball vs. Michigan
  • Women's Tennis @ Nebraska
  • Baseball @ Penn State
  • Men's Lacrosse @ Johns Hopkins
  • Field Hockey, Northwestern Tournament (Evanston, Ill.)
  • Track & Field, Sea Rays Relays
  • Men's Golf, Cabarrus County Irish Creek Intercollegiate (Annapolis, N.C.)
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