The Ohio State men’s tennis team will continue its journey in the NCAA Tournament after beating fellow Big Ten rival Illinois, sweeping the program that has been the closest to the Buckeyes in competition the last few years, 4-0. It was a great showing after OSU barely got by the Illini in the Big Ten Tournament just last week.
The Buckeyes got off to a great start by taking the double point when Alexander Bernard and Alex Okonkwo won 6-2 on court three, and Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin then took care of business on court one in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (4).
OSU continued the momentum into the singles matches. Filin (6-1, 6-4) and Bernard (6-2, 6-2) earned two-set singles victories on courts four and six, while Jack Anthrop clinched it for the Buckeyes in a 6-4, 6-3 match to sweep things at 4-0. It was the third victory over the Illini this season, having beaten them 5-2 earlier in the year and then taking the very close match in the Big Ten Tournament.
Ohio State now moves on to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament and will head to Athens, Georgia, where it will face the winner of Stanford and No. 6 seed TCU on May 14. The Cardinal and Horned Frogs will do battle at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.
The Buckeyes continue to search for that ever-elusive outdoor title. Despite all the success and close calls, they have never won the NCAA Tournament. OSU has made the quarterfinals (Elite 8) eighteen other times since 2004 and has been a runner-up in 2023, 2018, and 2009.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State men’s tennis advances to NCAA Tournament quarterfinals
Reporting by Phil Harrison, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
