After both teams made it to the NCAA semifinals in Georgia this year, the tennis program looks as strong as ever. How will the squads fare in 2018?
Women's Tennis
The 2017 iteration of Ohio State women's tennis featured four senior starters who will be moving on from the program in 2018 and will be hard to replace for head coach Melissa Schaub.
ITA Midwest Region Senior Player of the Year Miho Kowase set the program record for all-time singles wins late in the season and Sandy Niehaus is the programs all-time leader in doubles wins. As well as this, Kowase served as sophomore Francesca Di Lorenzo's doubles partner. Di Lorenzo is the NCAA's No. 1 ranked player for the upcoming singles tournament.
These two might be the most accomplished in Ohio State's history books, but they'll be missed for more than just their records. Kowase (No. 91), Niehaus (No. 112) and fellow graduating senior Gabriella De Santis (No. 95) were all ranked within the top 125 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Di Lorenzo (No. 1) and junior Anna Sanford (No. 67) are the only other two Buckeyes ranked within the top 125 as of right now.
While losing four starters will be hard, Schaub has certainly shown an aptitude for getting the most out of her players. This season, she was named the ITA National Coach of the Year and led the Scarlet and Gray to their first-ever NCAA tournament semifinals appearance in her fifth season as the Buckeyes' coach. Over her career leading the Bucks, she's compiled a 112-36 (.757) record and made the NCAA tournament each of the last four years.
However, some factors may not be up to her to control when it comes to the makeup of the team. She can recruit the best players, but there is never a guarantee they will stay, as the worry might be with Di Lorenzo.
Carrying the No. 1 ranking for much of the season and suffering only one singles loss in 38 matches, she's certainly shown that she has the skills to succeed at the professional level. Should Di Lorenzo choose to go pro, she would leave a gaping hole in the program that would be awfully hard to fill.
But, with some degree of optimism, the squad looks like it'll return strong again next season with the return of Di Lorenzo and Sanford in addition to the development of some of the younger players on the squad. Schaub hasn't missed the tournament since her first year in Columbus, and I'm sure she's enjoyed making it a habit to go to the tourney each of the last four years.
Men's Tennis
The men's squad will only lose two starters to graduation after this season, but they sure are big ones. Hugo Di Feo, who was consistently ranked within the ITA Singles top 10 throughout the season, and Herkko Pollanen, who worked with junior No. 1 Mikael Torpegaard as his doubles partner.
Pollanen and Torpegaard's chemistry has been a huge asset for the Buckeyes. The two have been competing since they were children in Finland and Denmark. Pollanen's absence alongside Torpegaard will be missed deeply for the Scarlet and Gray.
Pollanen was also extremely impressive when it mattered most. He was dominant in the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament before suffering a loss to ITA No. 109 J.C. Aragone (Virginia).
That's not to say Di Feo's absence wont be missed. The Montreal-born Buckeye was the ITA Midwest Region Senior Player of the Year and served as an anchor to sophomore Martin Joyce in doubles. The duo put together a 24-4 record on the year, an even better winning percentage than Torpegaard and Pollanen at 23-6. Di Feo was also 31-5 overall on the season in singles and climbed into the top five at one point during the season.
There is always the possibility that Torpegaard could also leave to go pro, but earlier this year he voiced his desire to change the way people in Denmark (his home country) think about players who go to play in college rather than immediately going pro.
On the bright side, the men's squad will return another ITA top 50 player for 2018: Big Ten and ITA Midwest Region freshman of the year No. 46 JJ Wolf. Wolf went 16-6 on the season in singles with nine wins over conference opponents, but his most shining moment came in sending the Buckeyes to the NCAA quarterfinals with a clutch win over Oklahoma senior All-American Andrew Harris.
Winner winner!! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/WPc6i5m7eP
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioState_MTEN) May 18, 2017
Returning two top 50 players, as well as the expected development of players like redshirt freshmen Kyle Seelig and Alex Kobelt should bode well for the Bucks in 2018, especially considering the leadership of the team.
Head coach and Director of Tennis Ty Tucker is an 12-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, a four-time ITA Midwest Region Coach of the year and an Ohio State athletics Hall of Famer. Associate head coach Justin Kronauge was also recently named the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
In all, the Buckeyes seem to be in good hands for 2018 and beyond, but it will certainly take some rapid reloading to replace the impacts of some of the departing seniors if the squads want to continue to make deep runs in the NCAA tournament.
