Ohio State fell just short of a national title on Tuesday evening, falling 4-2 to top-seeded Wake Forest in the NCAA Championship match.
Wake Forest put the Buckeyes behind early, taking the doubles point to go up 1-0, but the Buckeyes battled back, as Martin Joyce evened scoring with a two-set win on court six.
The Demon Deacons punched back with wins on courts two and three to putting the Buckeyes on the ropes, down 3-1 and needing three-straight wins to claim the national title.
Kyle Seelig delivered with a two-set win on court 5 to bring the score to 3-2, leaving the match on the shoulders of the veteran Mikael Torpegaard and the newcomer Tim Seibert.
It was looking good at one point – Torpegaard was on serve after already winning the first set and Seibert led 5-2 in his second set, needing just one more game to send his match to a pivotal third set.
Torpegaard's match stayed on serve, and went into a second-set tiebreaker on court one as Ohio State's veteran leader looked to even the match at 3-3, but he never got his chance. Wake Forest's Bar Botzer came roaring back, winning five-straight games to take the set, and clinched the 4-2 victory for the Demon Deacons.
The lose ends a tremendous season on a sour note. The Buckeyes finish the season 34-3, and went undefeated in conference play, winning a share of its 13th-straight Big Ten regular season title and its third-straight Big Ten Tournament title.
