Men's Tennis Falls in NCAA Semifinal Round

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 2 UCLA men's tennis team saw its season end in the NCAA Championships semifinal round Monday, as No. 3 Ohio State dealt the Bruins a 4-1 loss at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex. The Pac-12 regular-season and tournament champions, who earned numerous team and individual accolades over the course of the campaign, finish with a 30-3 overall record.

The teams endured two weather delays, with the first spanning over three hours and the second thirty minutes.

In an exciting doubles display, two matches were decided by tiebreak, while a third needed a 12th game to declare a winner. Courts two and three for UCLA found themselves in advantageous situations early, while the pair of No. 29 Martin Redlicki-Evan Zhu needed to dig itself out of a hole on the top one. The tides slowly but surely turned across all courts, though, as the Buckeye tandem of No. 61 Mikael Torpegaard-John McNally rebounded from a 4-1 deficit on court two to tie things up at five games apiece with No. 16 Austin Rapp-Keegan Smith. Court three, where the Bruin team of Maxime Cressy-Bryce Pereira maintained a one-game lead over Matt Mendez-Hunter Tubert for a majority of the set, also reached 5-5.

Redlicki-Zhu, which fell behind by a 4-1 score, also mounted a comeback. The pair collected six of the next seven games, completing its rally when a Buckeye shot went long. That left it up to courts two and three, each of which entered a seven-point tiebreaker. Torpegaard-McNally used its momentum to even the match, 7-6 (4), leaving it up to court three. Knotted at three points each, Mendez-Tubert took charge down the stretch, taking the next four to notch a 7-6 (3) win and clinch the doubles point.

The teams split six first sets, with Smith's 7-6 (5) tiebreaking effort giving the Bruins a bit of momentum. It would soon turn fully in UCLA's direction, as five of six second stanzas went to the Bruins, including a court six decision that gave Connor Hance the 18th win of his debut season and his team its first point of the day. His 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Tubert made it 1-1. Each of the remaining matches would reach a third set.

The top-court showdown between No. 1 Redlicki and No. 6 Torpegaard went as expected, as two of the nation's best players traded big shot after big shot in a back-and-forth third set. Torpegaard would prevail, mounting a third-set comeback on the way to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory and Ohio State's second point of the day.

Another UCLA senior in Logan Staggs, ranked No. 103 in the nation, dropped the first set against No. 96 Kyle Seelig, but fought his way to a third frame on court four. There, Seelig proved too much, tallying a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win to push the Buckeye lead to 3-1. The Tracy, Calif. native, who transferred to UCLA after one year at Northwestern, completed his collegiate career with a 64-26 record over three seasons in Westwood (89-39 overall).

With ranked battles on courts two and three entrenched in third sets, Ohio State's No. 112-ranked Martin Joyce completed the match, which covered approximately seven hours from the first serve to the final one. The Buckeye junior defeated Cressy on court five, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. The loss marked Cressy's first since March 15, completing a breakout junior year for the Hermosa Beach, Calif. native, who totaled a 33-7 overall record.

Austin Rapp, Redlicki, Smith and Zhu will dawn their UCLA gear at least once more in Winston-Salem, as the quartet is scheduled to participate across the NCAA singles and doubles championships. Play in those tournaments will take place May 23-28 at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.

#3 Ohio State 4, #2 UCLA 1
5/21/2018 at Winston-Salem, N.C.
Wake Forest Lower Courts

Singles competition
1. #6 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. #81 Evan Zhu (UCLA) vs. #41 JJ Wolf (OSU) 5-7, 6-4, 4-1, unfinished
3. #56 Keegan Smith (UCLA) vs. #92 John McNally (OSU) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 0-2, unfinished
4. #96 Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. #103 Logan Staggs (UCLA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
5. #112 Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
6. Connor Hance (UCLA) def. Hunter Tubert (OSU) 7-5, 6-3
 
Doubles competition
1. #29 Martin Redlicki/Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. Martin Joyce/JJ Wolf (OSU) 7-5
2. #61 John McNally/Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #16 Austin Rapp/Keegan Smith (UCLA) 7-6 (7-4)
3. Riley Reist/Hunter Tubert (OSU) def. Maxime Cressy/Bryce Pereira (UCLA) 7-6 (7-3)
 
Match Notes
Ohio State 34-2; National ranking #3
UCLA 30-3; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,1,4,5)
NCAA Semifinals