No. 2 Ohio State’s men’s tennis increased its win streak to eight, sweeping Northern Kentucky (4-9, 1-3 Horizon) 7-0 Friday morning at the Auer Tennis Complex in Columbus. The Buckeyes and Norse agreed to play out all matches.
Ohio State first claimed the doubles point, winning all three of its matches to begin the meet. Buckeyes’ No. 3-ranked pairing of Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico opened with a dominant 6-0 victory over Northern Kentucky’s Joao Pimenta and Hector Salvador Civera on court two.
The sophomore Filin said he felt he and Capirco had a strong showing, particularly on returns, but emphasized the need to stay disciplined moving forward against tougher opponents.
“I think we returned really well,” Filin said. “I think just gotta keep the main things. Make first serves, make return, make good volleys. Oregon is going to be a lot better, so we can’t take them lately.”
Ohio State’s No. 43 Bryce Nakashima and Aidan Kim then earned a 6-1 victory over No. 41 Mateus Vidaller Ranciaro and Dugan Fowler of Northern Kentucky on court three, claiming the doubles point for the Buckeyes.
Finally, the Buckeyes’ 36th-ranked duo of Alex Okonkwo and Alexander Bernard took down Jackson Poulos and Emilio Bravo 6-3 on court one.
Ohio State was also quick to earn its three singles points. The Buckeyes’ No. 42 Okonkwo followed up his doubles victory with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory over Salvador Civera on court three.
Then, Buckeye Loren Byers claimed a 6-0, 6-1 win over Pimenta on court two. Just minutes later, Alexander Bernard defeated Vidaller Ranciaro, 6-1, 6-1, on court four to give Ohio State its technical 4-0 victory.
Though the matches were played out and on court five, Carpico defeated Fowler 6-1, 6-1 to follow up his and Filin’s doubles victory.
Carpico, who fell to USC’s Connor Church on Sunday, emphasized the importance of getting back in the win column after a tough three-set loss.
“It’s always nice to get a win, especially at home,” Carpico said. “To get the confidence back, getting another opportunity out there was good. I thought I played well. So it’s good to kind of get rid of the demons from USC.”
Ohio State’s No. 27 Preston Stearns beat Northern Kentucky’s Bravo 6-1, 6-2 on court one for the Buckeyes’ sixth point of the outing.
Finally, Buckeye JP Day earned his third victory of the season, taking down Norse sophomore Arnau Puig Juanpere 6-3, 6-0.
The win marked Ohio State’s 13th sweep this season.
Ohio State (22-3, 8-1 Big Ten) will play its second match of the day at 6 p.m. against Oregon (13-7, 4-5 Big Ten) at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.
