©Colette Lewis 2007--
Chicago, IL--
It will be No. 1 Georgia versus No. 2 Ohio State Monday for the ITA Men's National Team Indoor title after both teams tallied hard-fought 4-2 victories on Sunday afternoon at the Midtown Tennis Club.
Georgia, the tournament's defending champion, battled back to defeat No. 4 Virginia in the first semifinal. The Bulldogs took the doubles point when the No. 3 team of Jamie Hunt and Nate Schnugg defeated the Cavaliers' Marko Miklo and Lee Singer 9-7 in the deciding match, but Virginia quickly went up a set in five of the six singles matches. At No. 2 and No. 3 the Cavaliers got the second set too, with Treat Huey defeating Luis Flores 7-6 (6), 6-2 and Dominic Inglot downing Travis Helgeson 6-3, 6-4, but Georgia captured the No. 4 point when Matic Omerzel took out Houston Barrick 6-4, 6-3.
With the match standing at 2-2, Nate Schnugg at No. 5 pulled Georgia ahead when he defeated fellow freshman Lee Singer 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Less than a minute later Georgia had the win they needed when John Isner outlasted Somdev Devvarman at No. 1, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4.
"We found out we're pretty darn tough," said Georgia head coach Manny Diaz. "Virginia played an unbelievable match, especially in the singles. We did a good job just putting our blinders on and scratching, getting back in some second sets."
Virginia coach Brian Boland lamented his team's inability to capitalize on the lead.
"It was very disappointing," Boland said. "We won too many first sets to let that match get away. All credit to Georgia, but we've got to be able to compete better than that, finish matches, control matches, not let the momentum get away."
UCLA coach Billy Martin is probably feeling the same way, as his team took the doubles point and No. 1 singles to establish a 2-0 lead, then saw the next four points go to the Buckeyes.
"We thought we'd have a tough day at (No.) 1 and (No.) 5," admitted Ohio State head coach Ty Tucker, "but we felt pretty confident at 2,3,4 and 6. When (Justin) Kronauge started to give us some energy and get a lead at 5, our team picked up some energy."
The match between Kronauge and Phillip Gruendler looked like a lost cause for the Buckeyes when the senior from Germany stormed through the first set 6-1. But the freshman fought back, taking the next two sets 6-4, 6-4, to put the Buckeyes ahead 3-2. With Moneke and Klingemann at No. 2 and No. 4 already finished, it was down to two matches. Drew Eberly of the Buckeyes earned a split with Michael Look to deny UCLA their third point at No. 6, so the focus turned to OSU's Devin Mullings and UCLA's Chris Surapol at No. 3. In the third set, Mullings got a quick break and then another, but even at 5-1 the tension mounted. Serving for Ohio State's first trip to a National finals, the senior from the Bahamas needed seven match points to get his team there, but once he finally sealed the deal, he was mobbed by all of his teammates, save Eberly who was still on court.
"It's a huge win for Ohio State," said Tucker, in his eighth season as head coach. "We were the second seed, and people thought we were supposed to get here, but you know, we've never been this far and you never know how your team is going to react in a tight battle with a team that's won 16 NCAA championships. But we pulled through with the win; what else can you say but 'Go Bucks.'"
Earlier in the day, Boise State's Luke Shields was awarded the USTA Sportsmanship Award. Shields was selected for the honor by the 16 participating coaches in the ITA Team Indoor event.
For complete results, including the consolation matches played today, see the tournament website.
