Ohio State Men's Tennis (2009 National Runners-Up)

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Men's Tennis: No. 2-seed Ohio State Loses, 4-2, to No. 7 Texas in NCAA Quarterfinals - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com

The Buckeyes will be represented in both the 2008 NCAA Men?s Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships in Tulsa, Okla., at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center May 21-26 after the team portion of the event concludes.
Bryan Koniecko received the Big Ten?s automatic bid for the singles championship. Steven Moneke and Justin Kronauge are at-large selections in the field of 64 singles players.
Koniecko and Moneke received the Big Ten?s automatic bid for the doubles bracket. Drew Eberly and Kronauge received an at-large bid to compete in the doubles section.

Good Luck guys and make us proud!

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In the round of 64, all three Buckeyes advanced with victoies at Tulsa.
Justin Kranouge had the toughest draw, #10 seed Dominic Inglot of virginia.
Kronauge prevailed in three sets.
Tomorrow each will play their 2nd round matches.
Bryan Koniecko will square off with #9 seed Jean-Yves Aubone of Florida State.
Steve Moneke will #12 seed Ivan Bjelica of Mississippi State.
Justin Kronauge will draw Jack Baker of South Alabama.
Also on tap for tomorrow, the two doubles pairs from TOSU will play their first round matches.

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The top three OSU single's players each claimed victory in the round of 32 on Thursday morning in Tulsa.
Justin Kronauge again went three grueling sets, splitting two tie breakers with Jack Baker, before posting a 6-4 win in the third.
Bryan Koniecko started by losing the first set to 9-16 seed Aubone of Florida State. He came on strong to claim the victory by winning the last two sets.
Steve Moneke had an impressive victory over #12 seeded Bjelica in straight sets.
Each qualify for the quarterfinals of the NCAA to be played Friday morning. TOSU will have 3 of the top 16 players in the NCAA.

Tonight two doubles teams will attempt to match their singles victories. Moneke and Koniecko are matched up against Cox and Agostenelli of Kentucky.
Drew Eberly will pair with Kronauge against #5 seed Hensel and Smith from Tennessee.
Congratulations team!

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Wow, an amazing come from behind victory by Eberly and Kronauge against the Tennessee pair. The OSU team kicks into gear in tie breakers, winning the 2nd set breaker 8-6 after being down several match points, and winning the 3rd set breaker 7-5.
The team of Moneke and Konieko had an easier match winning in straight sets over their Kentucky opponents.
Great and impressive showing by the Bucks with 3 out of the final 16 singles players wearing scarlet and grey. Two of the 16 doubles team are good guys.
Someone needs to let Patrick Mc Enroe know that even though the quarterfinal team matchup did not happen, the battle tested University of Florida from the toughest conference (SEC) does not have any singles or doubles teams left in the NCAA tourney.

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Two advance to the Quarterfinals of NCAA!
Friday afternoon at Tulsa, The Ohio State University showed up with two impressive victories in the round of 16. Justin Kronauge defeated Lars Poerschke (#7seed), Baylor in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (4). Justin played come form behind tennis again in the 2nd set from 5-2 down to even the match for a tie breaker. He made quick work of Poerschke in the breaker to claim a spot in the quarterfinals.
Steven Moneke tackled hometown and crowd favorite Arnau Brugues, of host University of Tulsa. They split the first two sets and playing inspiring tennis Steven captured the 3rd set with a service break at 4-4. He then held his serve to capture another scarlet and grey spot in the quarters.
The third Buckeye in singles action ran into a buzzsaw as Alex Clayton (#8 seed) of Stanford defeated Bryan Koniecko by a score of 6-2, 7-6 (5)

Tonight at 5 pm The Ohio State University looks to duplicate their successes on the courts with two teams still alive in the doubles championships.
In the round of 16 matches Drew Eberly and Justin Kronauge match up with Aubone and Bowles of Florida State.
In the bottom of the draw Bryan Koniecko and Steve Moneke take on Forman and Parr the 6th seeds out of Wake Forest.
We are proud of your successes Buckeyes!

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Saturday at noon, Steven Moneke and Justin Kronauge will seek to move into the semis of the NCAA's at the University of Tulsa.
Quite a shocker for two TOSU at large invitees to still be alive at the big dance.
Moneke will take on Andre Bergemann of Pepperdine whio upset the #3 seed yesterday.
Kronauge will draw J. P. Smith of Tennessee who to this point has not lost a set in the tournament.
After their Friday night victory in doubles, Drew Eberly and Justin Kronauge will represent the scarlet and grey in the double's quarterfinal at 4pm.
They will draw Krajicek and Pollack of Texas A & M who pulled a major upset of the #1 seed Friday.
Kronauge is the only men's player still alive in both singles and doubles competition.
One other Buckeye doubles team seeking to enter the quarters, Brian Koniecko and Steven Moneke dropped a tough 3 set loss to Formann and Parr of Wake Forest.

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Men?s Tennis: Buckeyes Fall in NCAA Championships - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com

The remaining Ohio State men?s tennis NCAA championships contenders dropped their quarterfinal matches in singles and doubles action Saturday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., to bring the 2008 Buckeye season to a close. . .
Ohio State finished the team portion of its schedule in the NCAA team quarterfinals with only two losses for the third-consecutive year. The Buckeyes set the school record for most wins in a single season (35), longest dual match win streak (23) and best single-season winning percentage (.946).

Great season Bucks!

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Men?s Tennis: Eberly, Koniecko, Kronauge, Moneke Earn All-America Honors - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com

Congratulations to 4 Buckeye NCAA All Americans!

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? For the first time in Ohio State men?s tennis history four Buckeyes have been named All-Americans in the same year as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Drew Eberly, Bryan Koniecko, Justin Kronauge and Steven Moneke to the 2008 All-America Team Friday.
Koniecko, Kronauge and Moneke were named to both the singles and doubles All-America squad, while Eberly garnered the coveted status for the doubles team. This is the second honor for Koniecko and Moneke as the two juniors earned the honor in 2007. Koniecko and Moneke also become Ohio State?s fifth and sixth two-time All-Americans.

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Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati High School Sports | Cincinnati.Com

Wyatt Lippert update
Posted by mikedyer at 8/15/2008 4:30 PM EDT on Cincinnati.com

Lakota West senior tennis standout Wyatt Lippert is "still wide open" with his college recruiting, according to Lakota West coach Mike Mueller.

Lippert, who is the reigning Division I state champion, is scheduled to visit Ohio State on Saturday.

Lippert will play in the U.S. Open junior qualifier in New York Aug. 29.

[LitlBuck]

For one reason or another, the Cincinnati area seems to be loaded with a very good tennis players.

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Men?s Tennis: Buckeye Bryan Koniecko Claims 2008 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Singles Title - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com

Bryan Koniecko, member of the Ohio State men?s tennis team, won the singles title Monday at the 2008 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships at The Ohio State University Varsity Tennis Center. Koniecko defeated defending singles champion and teammate, No. 8 Justin Kronauge 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 in the final. . .
With their appearance in the singles final, Kronauge and Koniecko both received automatic selections for the singles tournament at the ITA National Indoors, which take place Nov. 6-9 at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va. The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Tennis Championships are the second of three national tournaments for singles and doubles during the collegiate tennis season. . .

A very impressive early showing for the Buckeye tennis program. THis is going to be a special season with the B10 championships coming up soon.

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Day Four Recap

Buckeye tennis team continues a strong showing at the national indoor tournament. In a competition with the best NCAA players from all of America, Buckeye vs. Buckeye competed for the men's single final.
Congratulations to Bryan on the victory and runner up Justin for an amazing run. You make all Buckeye fans proud of your incredible showing.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ? Ohio State?s Bryan Koniecko . . . captured the singles title Sunday at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Virginia at the Boar?s Head Sports Club. This is the second of three national tournaments for singles and doubles administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) during the 2008-09 academic year.
It was a historical day in many ways in today?s final day of play. In men?s singles, Ohio State?s Bryan Koniecko edged out his teammate Justin Kronauge, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. It was only the second time in the event?s 30-year history that two teammates have squared off against one another to determine the men?s singles champion.

?It?s kinda tough facing him [Kronauge] because we practice every day together?, explained Koneicko. ?I?m just happy we each had a great match?.
Koniecko?s road to victory included some stifling competition. In what was ultimately a very tough opening round win, he was able to hold off No. 17-ranked Conor Pollock, 7-5, 7-6 [3]. Round two was also no easy task as he picked up a comeback victory over Virginia?s Sanam Singh in front of his hometown crowd, 2-6, 7-6 [3], 6-1. In the quarterfinals, he notched what could be the best win of the tournament on the men?s side, by knocking off top-seeded Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State in a decisive 6-2, 6-2 upset. His competition appeared to not get any easier for him in the semis as he was scheduled to face No. 3 seed Daniel Vallverdu of Miami (FL) before he had to withdraw from today?s match due to an injured shoulder, which advanced the eventual champion in today?s final match against a familiar face in Kronauge.
?I think the key was that I was able to serve well?, said Koneicko ?This is my first title and it?s been my goal since I?ve arrived at Ohio State.?

[LitlBuck]

It sounds like they have a pretty good team again this year. Hopefully, they can win the NCAA championship which they probably should have won last year.

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Final Fila ITA Division I Rankings
(As of 05/23/2008)
NCAA.com - The Official Web Site of the NCAA

1. . . . . Georgia . . . 85
2 . . . . Virginia . . . . 85
3 . . . . Ohio State . 79
4 . . . . Texas . . . . .76
5 . . . . UCLA . . . . .75
6. . . . Mississippi . .71
7. . . . USC . . . . . .67
8. . . . Baylor . . . . 60
9. . . . Tennessee . 59
10. . . Florida . . . . 56

According to the NCAA these are the top ten ranked teams from last May.
The intrusion of a cold weather and midwest team in the top ten is an anomaly and tribute to the excellent recruiting of the coaching staff & development of these athletes.
It is hard to compete with and recruit against southern and pacific coast teams that provide facilities and warm weather to play outdoors 9-12 months out of the year.

[LitlBuck]

It is my understanding that Coach Tucker is very highly regarded when it comes to tennis coaches and that the tennis facilities at Ohio State are really first-class but I understand what you're saying about the Southern schools and warm weather.