May 21, 2006
NCAA MEN'S TENNIS QUARTERFINALS
MAY 21, 2006
TAUBE TENNIS CENTER * STANFORD, CA
Notes:
After a short rain delay, the Longhorns and Buckeyes began play at the Taube South Court at Stanford, but more rain forced the match (which was set to begin at 10 a.m.) to be postponed until 5:20 p.m., where it restarted at the San Francisco Tennis Club ... No. 3 seed Texas improves to 26-3 with the victory ... Longhorns advance to NCAAsemifinals for second time, first time since 1993 ... Playing first NCAA QF match since 1997 ... No. 6 seed Ohio State loses for just the second time this season and finish at 28-2 ... Buckeyes brought nation's second longest win streak into match (19) ... QF showing equals best ever NCAA performance; also reached 2004 final eight ... Texas beat No. 14 Mississippi in Saturday's round of 16; Ohio State beat No. 11 North Carolina ... Big 12 has now sent at least one team to NCAA semifinals each of the past three years ... UT has won all four meetings against OSU; two of those meetings being in the NCAA tournament.
Quotes:
Ohio State Head Coach Ty Tucker
"We had our opportunities today and this one is going to sting for the next six months. We were serving for the doubles point at 7-5 with the No. 1 doubles team in the country and the doubles point would have won us the match. After that we rebounded nicely then had a three hour rain delay and inched back in the match. Ross Wilson and Devin Mullings got us on the board at 2-1 and we were fighting on the other courts. We took a 3-1 lead then they came back to make it 3 all . Bryan Koniecko was three points away from winning his match."
"All eyes were on Dennis Mertens with the match on the line. He was up 5-2 in the tie breaker in the third set and two points away form winning the match. The Varela came back and hit five straight points and he probably hadn't won three straight points all day, but he pulled it out."
"Honestly for about five minutes there I thought we were in the Final Four. It's awfully disheartening, but at the same time the guys gave everything they had. Anybody who watched that match got a treat. I would love to be playing tomorrow in the Final Four because I really thought we were a team that could have won the finals and gone further."
"We are going to get ready for the individual tournament in the next few days," Tucker said. "As a coach you are all about the team and it's a little sad right now knowing there isn't a match for us to play tomorrow, but I know these guys are going to give this tournament everything they have. It's the last tournament for Green and Wilson and I know those guys will want to go out on top."