TopDawg
G.O.A.T.
Big matchup in Athens on Wednesday afternoon - for Georgia it's a chance to get back into the top 10 while Ohio State will be looking to stay in the top 3.
Georgia leads the series 11-4 and this will be the 7th meeting between the 2 in the last 8 years. Ohio State has won 4 of the last 6.
The weather forecast for Wednesday doesn't look great with a high in the mid 60s and a 40% chance of morning rain (was at 90% earlier today but dropped). If the showers are gone by late morning they should be fine but if it goes indoors it'll be played on the 4 indoor courts. Going indoors definitely reduces Georgia's chances with Ohio State being the National Indoor Champs. Playing indoors would also mean no streaming video or point by point scoring so let's all hope for no showers.
Projected Doubles Lineup:
#1: #3 Peter Kobelt/Kevin Metka (OSU) vs. #14 Ben Wagland/Hernus Pieters (UGA)
#2: Herkko Pollanen/Hunter Callahan (OSU) vs. Nathan Pasha/Garrett Brasseaux (UGA)
#3: Chris Diaz/Ralf Steinbach (OSU) vs. Austin Smith/Eric Diaz (UGA)
Doubles Comments: Ohio State is a big favorite at #1 dubs with Kobelt/Metka 10-2 in duals and Wagland/Pieters 3-3. Georgia is the favorite at #3 dubs with Smith/Diaz 9-1 and Diaz/Steinbach 6-6. #2 dubs should be the decider and that one could go either way with Callahan/Pollanen 7-6 and Pasha/Brasseaux 7-2.
Possible Singles Lineup:
#1: #9 Peter Kobelt (OSU) vs. #30 Nathan Pasha (UGA) - Kobelt is 10-1 at 1 with quality wins over Mitchell Frank, Harrison Adams, Tom Jomby, and Ray Sarmiento with his only loss to Texas's Soren Hess-Olsen. Kobelt had 4 matches that did not finish (DNF) with the only notable DNF being against Brayden Schnur (trailed 6-7 6-5). Pasha is 6-3 (3-1 at 1, 2-2 at 2, 1-0 at 3) with a quality win over Mackenzie McDonald and with losses to Winston Lin, Yannick Hanfmann, and Lloyd Glasspool. Pasha had 3 DNFs and in those 3 he led Nik Scholtz and Malte Stropp and trailed Hunter Reese.
#2: #88 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) vs. #16 Austin Smith (UGA) - Pollanen is 6-3 (3-1 at 2, 3-2 at 3) with a quality win over Texas's George Goldhoff and with losses to Shane Vinsant, Gordon Watson, and Ryan Shane. Also had 8 matches not finish - notables were trailed Quiroz (2-6 5-4) and even with Ronnie Schneider in the 3rd. Smith is 7-4 (3-3 at 1, 4-1 at 2) with a quality win over Mikelis Libietis and with losses to Maciek Romanowicz, Ray Sarmiento, Marcos Giron, and Soren Hess-Olesen.
#3: Chris Diaz (OSU) vs. #66 Ben Wagland (UGA) - Diaz is 5-7 with 4 DNFs (3-3 at 2, 1-4 at 3, 1-0 at 4) with a quality win over Quentin Monaghan and with notable losses to Jeremy Efferding, Lloyd Glasspool, Alex Domijan, Yannick Hanfmann, and Brett Clark. Wagland is 3-3 (0-1 at 2, 3-2 at 3) with 4 DNFs. The only notable opponents he's faced have been George Goldhoff (4th overrule loss), Clay Thompson (6-4 6-5 loss), and Roberto Quiroz (DNF 4-6 3-1).
#4: Ralf Steinbach (OSU) vs. #76 Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) - Steinbach is 14-2 (2-0 at 3, 6-2 at 4, 6-0 at 5) with quality wins over Junior Ore, Florent Diep, Justin Shane, and Connor Farren. Losses came to Louisville's Alex Gornet and Notre Dame's Ryan Bandy. Brasseaux is 5-1 playing all matches at 4 with a quality win over Adrien Berkowicz and his loss to Gage Brymer. Also had 2 DNF's (was serving for the match in both of them against Farren and Dromsky). Also missed 4 matches with a groin injury.
#5: Kevin Metka (OSU) vs. Hernus Pieters (UGA) - Metka is 14-2 (5-2 at 4 & 8-0 at 5) with quality wins over Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Eddy Covalschi, Nick Naumann, and Esben Hess-Olesen. Losses came against Indiana's Daniel Bednarczyk and Dane Webb. Pieters is 8-2 splitting time mainly between 5 and 6 with a quality win against Mississippi State's #4 Jordan Angus and with losses against Jonny Wang and Joseph DiGiulio.
#6: #72 Hunter Callahan (OSU) vs. #100 Nick Wood (UGA) - Callahan is 15-1 playing all matches at 6 with quality wins against Jordan Daigle and Jonny Wang and his lone loss coming against Oklahoma's Austin Siegel. Wood is 4-2 playing every spot but 1 with 6 additional matches not finishing (was up in 4 of the 6). Wood's best wins are over Dennis Mkrtchian and Mississippi State's #1 Malte Stropp with his 2 losses being to Texas's Nick Naumann and Florida's Gordon Watson (now playing at 1).
Singles Comments: Each coach could do some shuffling to their lineups. I think Steinbach will be back to 4 and Metka to 5. I think Manny will move Pieters up to 5 and put Wood at 6. I don't see Kobelt losing to whoever Georgia puts out at 1. I like Georgia at 2 with Smith a bigger favorite over Pollanen than Pasha would be in my opinion. I'd lean towards Diaz at 3 over Wagland because Ben has been too erratic this year and I could see Diaz frustrating him. 4 is a toss-up between Steinbach and Brasseaux, 5 would be a soft lean towards Metka with Pieters also liking to serve & volley though not quite as much as Metka. 6 is a toss up between Callahan and Wood. If they play outdoors and there is a big and rowdy crowd then that could be enough to push Georgia over the top at 4 and 6 and Georgia could pull it out 4-3. If it's indoors I'd say Ohio State wins it 5-2.
Live Scoring & Blog
Result from last year's meeting in Columbus:
#4 Ohio State 5, #6 Georgia 2
Feb 03, 2013 at Columbus, Ohio (Varsity Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #8 KU Singh (UGA) def. #1 Peter Kobelt (OSU) 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8 )
2. Blaz Rola (OSU) def. #19 Nathan Pasha (UGA) 6-3, 7-5
3. Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. Ben Wagland (UGA) 6-3, 6-3
4. #13 Connor Smith (OSU) def. #16 Hernus Pieters (UGA) 6-4, 6-1
5. #30 Chris Diaz (OSU) def. Austin Smith (UGA) 6-1, 6-4
6. Nick Wood (UGA) def. Hunter Callahan (OSU) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 1-0 (10-3)
Doubles competition
1. Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith (OSU) def. #5 Hernus Pieters/Ben Wagland (UGA) 8-3
2. Devin McCarthy/Ille Van Engelen (OSU) vs. KU Singh/Nathan Pasha (UGA) 5-6, unfinished
3. Blaz Rola/Kevin Metka (OSU) def. Eric Diaz/Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) 8-3
Georgia leads the series 11-4 and this will be the 7th meeting between the 2 in the last 8 years. Ohio State has won 4 of the last 6.
The weather forecast for Wednesday doesn't look great with a high in the mid 60s and a 40% chance of morning rain (was at 90% earlier today but dropped). If the showers are gone by late morning they should be fine but if it goes indoors it'll be played on the 4 indoor courts. Going indoors definitely reduces Georgia's chances with Ohio State being the National Indoor Champs. Playing indoors would also mean no streaming video or point by point scoring so let's all hope for no showers.
Projected Doubles Lineup:
#1: #3 Peter Kobelt/Kevin Metka (OSU) vs. #14 Ben Wagland/Hernus Pieters (UGA)
#2: Herkko Pollanen/Hunter Callahan (OSU) vs. Nathan Pasha/Garrett Brasseaux (UGA)
#3: Chris Diaz/Ralf Steinbach (OSU) vs. Austin Smith/Eric Diaz (UGA)
Doubles Comments: Ohio State is a big favorite at #1 dubs with Kobelt/Metka 10-2 in duals and Wagland/Pieters 3-3. Georgia is the favorite at #3 dubs with Smith/Diaz 9-1 and Diaz/Steinbach 6-6. #2 dubs should be the decider and that one could go either way with Callahan/Pollanen 7-6 and Pasha/Brasseaux 7-2.
Possible Singles Lineup:
#1: #9 Peter Kobelt (OSU) vs. #30 Nathan Pasha (UGA) - Kobelt is 10-1 at 1 with quality wins over Mitchell Frank, Harrison Adams, Tom Jomby, and Ray Sarmiento with his only loss to Texas's Soren Hess-Olsen. Kobelt had 4 matches that did not finish (DNF) with the only notable DNF being against Brayden Schnur (trailed 6-7 6-5). Pasha is 6-3 (3-1 at 1, 2-2 at 2, 1-0 at 3) with a quality win over Mackenzie McDonald and with losses to Winston Lin, Yannick Hanfmann, and Lloyd Glasspool. Pasha had 3 DNFs and in those 3 he led Nik Scholtz and Malte Stropp and trailed Hunter Reese.
#2: #88 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) vs. #16 Austin Smith (UGA) - Pollanen is 6-3 (3-1 at 2, 3-2 at 3) with a quality win over Texas's George Goldhoff and with losses to Shane Vinsant, Gordon Watson, and Ryan Shane. Also had 8 matches not finish - notables were trailed Quiroz (2-6 5-4) and even with Ronnie Schneider in the 3rd. Smith is 7-4 (3-3 at 1, 4-1 at 2) with a quality win over Mikelis Libietis and with losses to Maciek Romanowicz, Ray Sarmiento, Marcos Giron, and Soren Hess-Olesen.
#3: Chris Diaz (OSU) vs. #66 Ben Wagland (UGA) - Diaz is 5-7 with 4 DNFs (3-3 at 2, 1-4 at 3, 1-0 at 4) with a quality win over Quentin Monaghan and with notable losses to Jeremy Efferding, Lloyd Glasspool, Alex Domijan, Yannick Hanfmann, and Brett Clark. Wagland is 3-3 (0-1 at 2, 3-2 at 3) with 4 DNFs. The only notable opponents he's faced have been George Goldhoff (4th overrule loss), Clay Thompson (6-4 6-5 loss), and Roberto Quiroz (DNF 4-6 3-1).
#4: Ralf Steinbach (OSU) vs. #76 Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) - Steinbach is 14-2 (2-0 at 3, 6-2 at 4, 6-0 at 5) with quality wins over Junior Ore, Florent Diep, Justin Shane, and Connor Farren. Losses came to Louisville's Alex Gornet and Notre Dame's Ryan Bandy. Brasseaux is 5-1 playing all matches at 4 with a quality win over Adrien Berkowicz and his loss to Gage Brymer. Also had 2 DNF's (was serving for the match in both of them against Farren and Dromsky). Also missed 4 matches with a groin injury.
#5: Kevin Metka (OSU) vs. Hernus Pieters (UGA) - Metka is 14-2 (5-2 at 4 & 8-0 at 5) with quality wins over Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Eddy Covalschi, Nick Naumann, and Esben Hess-Olesen. Losses came against Indiana's Daniel Bednarczyk and Dane Webb. Pieters is 8-2 splitting time mainly between 5 and 6 with a quality win against Mississippi State's #4 Jordan Angus and with losses against Jonny Wang and Joseph DiGiulio.
#6: #72 Hunter Callahan (OSU) vs. #100 Nick Wood (UGA) - Callahan is 15-1 playing all matches at 6 with quality wins against Jordan Daigle and Jonny Wang and his lone loss coming against Oklahoma's Austin Siegel. Wood is 4-2 playing every spot but 1 with 6 additional matches not finishing (was up in 4 of the 6). Wood's best wins are over Dennis Mkrtchian and Mississippi State's #1 Malte Stropp with his 2 losses being to Texas's Nick Naumann and Florida's Gordon Watson (now playing at 1).
Singles Comments: Each coach could do some shuffling to their lineups. I think Steinbach will be back to 4 and Metka to 5. I think Manny will move Pieters up to 5 and put Wood at 6. I don't see Kobelt losing to whoever Georgia puts out at 1. I like Georgia at 2 with Smith a bigger favorite over Pollanen than Pasha would be in my opinion. I'd lean towards Diaz at 3 over Wagland because Ben has been too erratic this year and I could see Diaz frustrating him. 4 is a toss-up between Steinbach and Brasseaux, 5 would be a soft lean towards Metka with Pieters also liking to serve & volley though not quite as much as Metka. 6 is a toss up between Callahan and Wood. If they play outdoors and there is a big and rowdy crowd then that could be enough to push Georgia over the top at 4 and 6 and Georgia could pull it out 4-3. If it's indoors I'd say Ohio State wins it 5-2.
Live Scoring & Blog
Result from last year's meeting in Columbus:
#4 Ohio State 5, #6 Georgia 2
Feb 03, 2013 at Columbus, Ohio (Varsity Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #8 KU Singh (UGA) def. #1 Peter Kobelt (OSU) 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8 )
2. Blaz Rola (OSU) def. #19 Nathan Pasha (UGA) 6-3, 7-5
3. Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. Ben Wagland (UGA) 6-3, 6-3
4. #13 Connor Smith (OSU) def. #16 Hernus Pieters (UGA) 6-4, 6-1
5. #30 Chris Diaz (OSU) def. Austin Smith (UGA) 6-1, 6-4
6. Nick Wood (UGA) def. Hunter Callahan (OSU) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 1-0 (10-3)
Doubles competition
1. Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith (OSU) def. #5 Hernus Pieters/Ben Wagland (UGA) 8-3
2. Devin McCarthy/Ille Van Engelen (OSU) vs. KU Singh/Nathan Pasha (UGA) 5-6, unfinished
3. Blaz Rola/Kevin Metka (OSU) def. Eric Diaz/Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) 8-3
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