Around the Oval: Ohio State's Tennis Teams Advance to NCAA Super Regionals and Buckeye Golf Teams Head to NCAA Regionals

By Chase Brown on May 8, 2023 at 1:39 pm
Ohio State men’s tennis
Ohio State Dept. of Athletics
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There's no season like the postseason. As Ohio State's Olympic sports head deeper into May, that's all that lies ahead for the Buckeyes.

In this week's edition of Around the Oval, Eleven Warriors' one-stop shop for coverage of Ohio State's non-revenue programs, we provide updates on men's and women's tennis, men's and women's golf and several other teams as they enter the postseason.

Let's dive in.

Men's Tennis

Ohio State men's tennis collected a 29-2 record with a Big Ten regular-season title and Big Ten Tournament championship this season, earning the No. 3 overall seed at the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

As one of the tournament's best teams, Ohio State hosted Eastern Tennessee State and Louisville at the Auer Tennis Complex and Ty Tucker Tennis Center over the weekend. The Buckeyes brought out the broomsticks for the contests, sweeping both opponents 4-0 and advancing to the NCAA Super Regional, which will also take place in Columbus.

Cannon Kingsley and JJ Tracy have been instrumental to Ohio State's success recently, leading the Buckeyes to 16 consecutive victories dating back to Feb. 18. The duo have combined for 15 wins in doubles this season and have been even better in singles, with Kingsley (17-5) ranked No. 11 in the ITA Rankings, and Tracy (24-6) ranked No. 22.

Head coach Ty Tucker will need Kingsley and Tracy to be at their best on Saturday when Ohio State welcomes No. 14 seed Arizona to campus. Tucker will also look for Robert Cash, Justin Boulais, James Trotter and Andrew Lutschaunig to perform up to their usual standards, helping the Buckeyes secure the early doubles point and taking care of business in their individual matches.

Ohio State and Arizona's third-round matchup will start at noon Saturday. The matches will be live-streamed on the Ohio State athletics website, and live scoring can also be tracked in the Buckeyes' StatBroadcast feed.

Women's Tennis

Ohio State women's tennis also had a successful weekend in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, as the No. 10-seeded Buckeyes (22-7) defeated Xavier, 4-0, and Vanderbilt, 4-2, and advanced to the Super Regionals next weekend.

Fresh off selections for the NCAA Championships, unanimous first-team All-Big Ten honorees Sydni Ratliff and Irina Cantos Siemers were the stars of the show for the Buckeyes in their battles with the Musketeers and Commodores. The duo won their doubles matches and collected a combined 3-1 record in singles to help Ohio State move on in the tournament.

Next weekend, Ohio State will travel to the USTA National Campus in Orlando to face No. 7 seed Stanford at 4 p.m. on Friday. The Buckeyes and Cardinal did not face each other in the regular season, but head coach Melissa Schaub's squad was 1-1 against Pac-12 opponents in 2022-23, recording a 5-2 win over Arizona State on Feb. 18 and a 4-3 loss to UCLA on March 12.

For Ohio State to move past Stanford, the Buckeyes will need Ratliff, Cantos Siemers and their teammates Shelly Bereznyak, Lucia Marzal and Danielle Willson to be locked in from start to finish. If not, the team could be in for a long afternoon in Florida, as their opponents will arrive on the courts with a 23-2 record, including 20 consecutive wins dating back to early February.

Men's Golf

Ohio State men's golf earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament's Auburn Regional last week. The Buckeyes checked in as the No. 5 seed in the 13-team region, marking the fourth consecutive season and the fifth season overall that Ohio State has qualified for the postseason under Jay Moseley.

Speaking of Moseley, the Ohio State head coach has War Eagle roots, as he was once a standout golfer for Auburn from 2004-08. A four-year letter, All-American and Cliff Hare Award winner, Moseley competed in 42 events for the Tigers and holds the program record for the lowest 36-hole score of a 12-under 132 at the John Burns Intercollegiate. His 14-under 202 54-hole total in the event currently ranks third in school history.

After his college career ended, Moseley was a graduate assistant for the program in 2008-09. He later became the head coach of Kennesaw State from 2010-14 before he arrived at Ohio State in 2015.

This season, Ohio State has seven top-five finishes under Moseley, including wins at the Cal Poly Invitational and Robert Kepler Intercollegiate. The Buckeyes' most recent outing was a fifth-place finish at the rain-shortened Big Ten Championship last weekend.

If Ohio State wants to make some noise in the postseason, it will rely on unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection Maxwell Moldovan and the team's lone individual victor this season, Adam Wallin, to earn podium finishes at Auburn University Golf Club. The NCAA Regional will occur from May 15-17, with play set to start a 7:30 a.m. each morning. The top five teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championship.

Auburn Regional Participants

  1. Vanderbilt
  2. Tennessee
  3. Auburn
  4. Colorado State
  5. Ohio State
  6. Washington
  7. TCU
  8. Chattanooga
  9. Houston
  10. Marquette
  11. Indiana
  12. Augusta University
  13. Siena

Women's Golf

Ohio State women's golf earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament's Athens Region last week. The Buckeyes are the No. 4 seed in the 12-team region and teed off for their first round at the University of Georgia Golf Course at 8 a.m. on Monday.

Head coach Lisa Strom's squad will be led by Carly McGinty, Lauren Peter and Kary Hollenbaugh this week after all three golfers earned All-Big Ten honors in 2022-23.

McGinty paces the team with a score of 72 per 18 holes after competing in 27 rounds this season, including a stellar performance at the Women's Amateur at Augusta National in early April. On the other hand, Peter is fresh off a sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Championship, a performance that garnered All-Championship Team honors, while Hollenbaugh is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes in her most recent outings.

Athens Regional Participants

  1.  South Carolina
  2.  San Jose State
  3.  Ole Miss
  4.  Ohio State
  5.  Georgia
  6.  Maryland
  7.  Kent State
  8.  Charleston
  9.  Kansas
  10.  Furman
  11.  Augusta
  12.  Sacred Heart

Other News and Notes

  • Ohio State baseball was victorious in its series finale against Iowa on Sunday, fending off a sweep with a 5-2 win. The Buckeyes are 23-25 this season with a 6-15 mark in Big Ten competition. Head coach Bill Mosiello's squad will wrap up their regular season in the next two weeks with one-off games against UCF and Central Michigan before three-game series with UNC Greensboro and Michigan.
  • Ohio State softball won its three-game series against Nebraska over the weekend, defeating the Cornhuskers on Friday, 2-1, and Sunday, 6-4. The Buckeyes finished the regular season with a 32-19 record and had a 12-11 mark in Big Ten play. Head coach Kelly Kovach Shoenly's squad will now travel to Champaign, Illinois, on Wednesday to battle No. 11 seed Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
  • Ohio State men's volleyball had its season end last week in a 3-1 loss to Penn State at the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes fought hard in the match, but the No. 3-seeded Nittany Lions were too much to handle for head coach Kevin Burch's squad. Ohio State finished the year 23-10 with an 11-3 record in MIVA play, and it also claimed its first MIVA Tournament title since 2019.
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