Ohio State Defeats Virginia, Texas Beats Baylor to Advance to Tuesday's Final of the ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Dallas TX--

Three-time ITA Men's Team Indoor champion Ohio State will face a Texas team seeking its first title Tuesday night at the Styslinger-Altec Tennis Complex at SMU after earning hard-fought wins over Virginia and Baylor in Monday's semifinals.

Top seed Ohio State avoided a third consecutive 4-3 decision, beating No. 2 seed Virginia 4-2 in the 3:30 pm match, with a crisply played doubles point going the way of the Buckeyes. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima earned the point with a 6-3 win at line 3, beating Andres Santamarta and Keegan Rice, after the Cavaliers had won at line 1 and the Ohio State had taken line 2.

Four first sets in singles went to the Buckeyes, but a Virginia surge felt inevitable, despite senior Jack Anthrop's routine 6-2, 6-3 win over former ITF World No. 1 Andres Santamarta Roig, who is just weeks into his college career.

Three matches went to third sets, and in the two of those that were completed, the player who lost a first set, secured a point for his team.

After Jangjun Kim beat Nakashima 7-6(3), 6-4 at line to put Virginia on the board, with Ohio State taking a brief 3-1 lead when Nikita Filin claimed a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Mans Dahlberg at line 6. But a minute later, Stiles Brockett of Virginia completed his comeback, beating Loren Byers 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 to close the gap to 3-2.

That left two matches, both in third sets, with Kim trailing Dylan Dietrich 3-0 at line 1 and Preston Stearns and Keegan Rice, on serve early in their third set at line 2.

Kim, who had clinched Ohio State's 4-3 quarterfinal win over Stanford, said he couldn't allow himself get discouraged or passive despite the early deficit in the third set.

"I struggled to start that third set, and negative thoughts were going through my head," said the junior from Michigan. "I just had to shut them all off, and not really think too much, because those moments, knowing it's coming down to me or Stearns, I knew I had to just step it up, just believe and commit to my shots."

Kim did just that, breaking Dietrich on a deciding point to get the early break back, and holding for 3-all. Dietrich held at love to go up 4-3, but that was the last game he would win. Kim held for 4-all and then forced a deciding point with Dietrich serving, and when the senior from Switzerland double faulted with his second serve at least two feet long, Kim was suddenly serving for a trip to the finals.

Kim had served out the doubles point, making all five of his first serves in that game, and he continued that trend serving at 5-4, making his first three and swinging freely to go up 40-0. He sailed a backhand long on his first match point, but another first serve, a forehand approach and a backhand volley proved too much for Dietrich, whose defensive lob floated long, setting off another celebration that looked remarkably similar to Saturday's ending against Stanford.

"I try not to think too hard that I need this first serve," Kim said. "Again, I try to shut off my brain a little bit in those tighter moments, and I was happy I was able to commit and execute, trusting myself. I was down basically the whole match and I was being tentative, but talking to the coaches, switching up the game plan here and there and just believing."

Head coach Ty Tucker expressed his appreciation for Kim's ability to come up with first serves when closing out matches.

"You're looking for guys who hold serve the first time they serve for a set, when they serve for the match, that's what you need," Tucker said. "It's men's tennis, it's being played indoors and you've got to be able to hold serve."

Ohio State, who won Indoor titles in 2014, 2019 and 2024, will have three players on the 2024 team competing for a title again: Anthrop, Alex Bernard and Stearns, with Stearns not playing in the final.

Tucker doesn't think that provides much of an advantage for the Buckeyes.

"Anthrop, Bernard and Stearns were there," Tucker said. But when asked if that might be helpful, he replied, "I think it helps to hold serve. I think it helps to get the doubles point. But sure, obviously. But everybody's going to be nervous, everybody's going to be a little bit tight."

No. 3 seed Texas last played in an Team Indoor final in 2023, falling to TCU, but after beating No. 5 seed Baylor 4-0, the Longhorns are poised for another shot at their first Indoor title.

Although the 4-0 score looks routine, the Longhorns never really established any dominance over the Bears even after collecting the doubles point and four first sets in singles. Although Texas had more paths, they had no luck building on that 1-0 lead, while Baylor also could not close out either of the matches in which they took first sets.

Texas finally got their second point, with Sebastian Eriksson taking down Alexandru Chirita 6-4, 7-5 at line 4. Texas made it 3-0, with Kalin Ivanovski rebounding for a  3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win ove Zsombor Velcz at line 2, but Baylor's Devin Badenhorst had forced a third set by taking a tiebreaker over Sebastian Gorzny at line 1 and Texas's Lucas Marionneau had saved a set point serving at 4-5 against Louis Bowden at line 6. Had Marionneau lost that point, there was at least another 30 minutes of tennis to be played, but Marionneau broke Bowden on a second serve return winner on the deciding point to take a 6-5 lead.

Serving for the match Marionneau went down 30-40, but again he held his nerve, with the freshman from France taking his third straight game on a deciding point, with Bowden netting a backhand, to clinch the win.

"When I served for the match, I said I have to go for it," said Marionneau, who clinched the Longhorns' 4-2 win over Texas A&M in the round of 16, but did not play in the 4-3 quarterfinal win over TCU. "At 30-40, I hit a backhand line, super great shot, and then on the deuce point, I was a bit tight, to be honest, missed my first serve and then I was just grinding, and I'm really happy to bring this point for the team."

Texas head coach Bruce Berque said he hoped to leave with a couple of wins and a healthy team, not expecting a run to the program's second final.

"Truthfully, my goal coming into this tournament was to win two matches, and not get hurt any worse than we were," Berque said. "That was my goal. We don't seem too hurt, we didn't get any worse, and we've won three matches already, so I'm thrilled, and I know my guys aren't going to be content with that...I'm thrilled with the result, and thrilled that the guys seem to be holding up physically."

Oliver Ojakaar, who was injured last season and did not play after March, had a setback this fall, so Texas is being extremely cautious as he tries to return to competition for a second time. After clinching the 4-3 win over TCU in the quarterfinals, Ojakaar played doubles today, and is a match time decision for the finals.

"We thought at most he could get two singles matches in this week, at most," Berque said. "Tonight didn't seem like the right night for it, but tomorrow, we'll see, depending on how he feels. But he's holding up really well, and after his long match(against TCU), he recovered well and we'll see if he's feeling good enough to do it."

 

Texas and Ohio State played in Columbus at the end of last month, with the Buckeyes claiming a 4-1 win.

"We were a little soft last time," Berque said. "You know they're not soft. Singles, doubles, every court they're going to compete their butts off. They're really good tennis players, but they're tough as nails and we're going to have to match that at least. We're going to have to play a high level of tennis, but what I saw out here today, I think we'll have a fighting chance, but anything less than our best competitive effort is going to result in a trip home with a 3-1 record."

The final is scheduled for 6:30 p.m Central time Tuesday, with the inaugural collegiate version of the famous "Taste of Tennis" event being held in conjunction with the final.

Cracked Racquets will be providing coverage at their YouTube Channel.

ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships 

Semifinals, SMU, Monday February 16, 2026

Ohio State[1] d. Virginia[2] 4-2

1. Stiles Brockett and Dylan Dietrich(UVA) d. Alex Bernard and Alex Okonkwo 6-2

2. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin(OSU) d. Mans Dahlberg and Jangjun Kim(UVA) 6-1

3. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima(OSU) d. Andres Santamarta and Keegan Rice(UVA) 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:

1. Aidan Kim(OSU) d. Dylan Dietrich(UVA) 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4

2. Preston Stearns(OSU) v Keegan Rice(UVA) 6-4, 6-7(3), 2-2, unf.

3. Jack Anthrop(OSU) d. Andres Santamarta(UVA) 6-2, 6-3

4. Jangjun Kim(UVA) d. Bryce Nakashima(OSU) 7-6(3), 6-4

5. Stiles Brockett(UVA) d. Loren Byers(OSU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3

6. Nikita Filin(OSU) d. Mans Dahlberg(UVA) 7-5, 7-5

Order of finish: 3, 4, 6, 5, 1

Texas[3] d. Baylor[5] 4-0

Doubles:

1. Abel Forger and Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) d. Connor Van Schalkwyk and Luc Koenig(BAY) 6-3

2. Sebastian Gorzny and Lucas Marionneau(TEX) d. Alexandru Chirita and Zsombor Velcz(BAY) 7-5

3. Sebastian Eriksson and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) v Devin Badenhorst and Blake Anderson(BAY) 6-5, unf

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles:

1. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) v Devin Badenhorst(BAY) 6-4, 6-7(4), 1-1, unf.

2. Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) d. Zsombor Velcz(BAY) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3

3. Abel Forger(TEX) v Connor Van Schalkwyk(BAY) 3-6, 6-3, 4-2, unf

4. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) d. Alexandru Chirita(BAY) 6-4, 7-5

5. Jonah Braswell(TEX) v Luc Koenig(BAY) 6-4, 4-6, 1-2, unf

6. Lucas Marionneau(TEX) d. Louis Bowden(BAY) 6-4, 7-5

Order of finish: 4, 2, 6