WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Ohio State defeated No. 36 Purdue 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The Buckeyes (25-3, 9-0 B1G) won their 91st consecutive regular-season Big Ten match and clinched at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title. Ohio State took the doubles point and three singles matches to defeat Purdue (15-4, 7-2 B1G).
Freshman Herkko Pollanen, ranked No. 74 in the nation, clinched the match for the Buckeyes, improving his season record to 10-9. With the win, Pollanen brings his B1G record to 6-3.
The doubles point got underway with senior Peter Kobelt and redshirt freshman Ralf Steinbach defeating Szymon Tatarczyk and Rickey Medinilla 8-1 on court No. 1. Redshirt junior Kevin Metka and freshman Herkko Pollanen claimed the doubles point for Ohio State with an 8-2 victory on court No. 3 versus Mark Kovacs and Mateus Silva. Hunter Callahan and redshirt sophomore Chris Diaz were tied at 5-5 with Aaron Dujovne ad Diego Acosta on court No. 2 when play was suspended.
Leading 1-0 into singles play, the Buckeyes and Boilermakers each took three first sets. No. 9 Kobelt blitzed Tatarczyk 6-1, 6-1 on court No. 1 to give Ohio State a 2-0 lead. No. 109 Callahan put Ohio State a match from victory with a 6-4, 6-0 win versus Silva on court No. 6. Purdue struck back with Kovacs taking a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 decision against Diaz on court No. 3 and Acosta downing Steinbach 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) on court No. 5. No. 74 Pollanen gave the victory to Ohio State with a 6-3, 6-3 win versus Medinilla on court No. 2. Court No. 4 was last to finish with Metka falling 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 to Dujovne.
