Illinois Drops Home Dual to #4 Ohio State

URBANA, Ill. – The Fighting Illini fell at home to No. 4 Ohio State, 4-1, on Friday night in the team's penultimate home dual.

Playing outside at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex for the first time this season, Illinois moved to 12-9 overall and 5-5 in conference contests. The Buckeyes remained perfect in Big Ten action, improving to 21-2 overall and 10-0 in league play.

The Buckeyes held a 1-0 lead after doubles play, using wins at No. 1 and 3 to secure the doubles point.

After Ohio State doubled its advantage with a victory on Court 6, the Illini cut its deficit in half behind a straight-set decision from Kenta Miyoshi over No. 10 Aidan Kim on the top singles court. Breaking in the first game of the opening set, Miyoshi broke again in the ninth game to take the first frame, 6-3. The Illini junior then broke early in the second set, which helped him establish a 3-0 edge. With that lead trimmed to 3-2, Miyoshi prevailed in the next three games to close out the set, 6-2, for his highest-ranked win in dual play.

Ohio State ultimately clinched the team triumph with victories at No. 3 and 5 singles.

In the unfinished match at No. 2 singles, Tyler Bowers battled the Buckeyes' No. 60 Alexander Bernard. With the opening set tied at 5-5, Bowers held serve before breaking for the second time in the 12th game to claim the frame, 7-5. His match went unfinished in the second set.

On Court 4, Zach Viiala took on Ohio State's Will Jansen, with the Buckeye junior winning the opening set, 6-3. Down 5-4 in the second set, Viiala broke in the 10th game to level the frame at 5-5 before getting broken once more to go down, 6-5. The Illini redshirt freshman found an answer once again, breaking to force a tiebreaker, which went unfinished with the score even at 3-3.

Results: No. 4 Ohio State 4, No. 27 Illinois 1

Doubles
No. 1: Aidan Kim/Will Jansen (Ohio State) def. Kenta Miyoshi/Tyler Bowers (Illinois), 6-1 
No. 2: Mathis Debru/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) vs. Brandon Carpico/Nikita Filin (Ohio State), 5-4, unfinished
No. 3: Alex Fuchs/Alexander Bernard (Ohio State) def. Zach Viiala/Max Mroz (Illinois), 6-4 

Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles
No. 1: No. 16 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) def. No. 10 Aidan Kim (Ohio State), 6-3, 6-2
No. 2: Tyler Bowers (Illinois) vs. No. 60 Alexander Bernard (Ohio State), 7-5, 3-5, unfinished
No. 3: No. 92 Jack Anthrop (Ohio State) def. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 6-3, 6-1
No. 4: Zach Viiala (Illinois) vs. Will Jansen (Ohio State), 3-6, 6-6, unfinished
No. 5: Bryce Nakashima (Ohio State) def. Mathis Debru (Illinois), 7-6(2), 6-2
No. 6: Brandon Carpico (Ohio State) def. Max Mroz (Illinois), 6-2, 6-2 

Order of finish: 6, 1, 3, 5

Next Up

Illinois will host Penn State on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT for Senior Night and the Illini's final home match of the regular season. Promotions include KAMS wristbands (free cover and line skip) for the first 150 fans and an Art Mart wine pull.