March 3, 2017
By Joanne Norell
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team fell to the nation’s No. 1 team on Friday in a 7-0 loss at Ohio State’s Varsity Tennis Center.
How It Happened
Ohio State won the doubles point, clinching convincing victories on Courts 1 and 2 to snare an early advantage.
The Buckeyes quickly added to their lead as No. 56 Herkko Pollanen defeated freshman Matt Gamble 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 4 spot, while top-ranked ITA singles player Mikael Torpegaard downed 44th-ranked Irish senior Josh Hagar 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 1 position. Ohio State clinched with a win at No. 2 as third-ranked Hugo Di Feo defeated senior Eddy Covalschi 6-3, 6-1.
The Irish had won first sets on each of the remaining courts, but the Buckeyes forced third sets in each match and ultimately won out in tiebreakers.
Up Next
The Irish will return to action at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 11, when they travel to No. 45 Louisville for an Atlantic Coast Conference tilt with the Cardinals at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.
Scoreboard
No. 1 Ohio State 7, Notre Dame 0
March 3, 2017
Varsity Tennis Center
Columbus, Ohio
Singles
1. No. 1 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. No. 44 Josh Hagar (ND) 6-2, 6-1
2. No. 3 Hugo Di Feo (OSU) def. Eddy Covalschi (ND) 6-3, 6-1
3. JJ Wolf (OSU) def. Alex Lebedev (ND) 3-6, 7-5, 10-6
4. No. 56 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Matt Gamble (ND) 6-2, 6-0
5. Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Grayson Broadus (ND) 4-6, 6-2, 10-8
6. Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Guillermo Cabrera (ND) 2-6, 6-2, 10-6
Doubles
1. No. 20 Herkko Pollanen / Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. No. 6 Eddy Covalschi / Josh Hagar (ND) 6-22. No. 56 Hugo Di Feo / Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Grayson Broadus / Brendon Kempin (ND) 6-13. Matt Gamble / Alex Lebedev (ND) vs. Matt Mendez / Hunter Tubert (OSU) 4-5, unfinished
— ND —
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.