No. 1 OU Looking to End Buckeyes' Streak

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Ohio State

March 6, 5:00 p.m. | Varsity Tennis Center

Columbus, Ohio

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The second-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team travels to Columbus, Ohio this weekend for a Friday night showdown with No. 8 Ohio State at 5 p.m. CT. The Sooners hope to spoil the Buckeyes' current home winning streak of 200-straight matches dating back to 2003.

BACK ON TOP

The Oklahoma men's tennis team is back atop the national rankings this week, coming in at No. 1 in the latest ITA team poll. The Sooners' have perhaps the most impressive resume in the country. Oklahoma claimed the ITA National Indoor title with four wins over top-20 opponents including preseason No. 1 USC. Three Sooners were named to the All-Tournament team and sophomore Alex Ghilea took home Most Outstanding Player honors.

Oklahoma has already racked up seven wins over top-25 opponents, and is an undefeated 12-0 in indoors.

REMATCH

Friday's match will mark the fourth time the two teams have met. The Sooners are 1-3 all-time against the Buckeyes, with the first win coming last year when OU upset the then-No. 1 Buckeyes 4-1 in Norman. The win propelled the Sooners to their first No. 1 ranking in program history.

OU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after taking wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to claim the doubles point. Oklahoma then got wins from Andrew Harris at No. 3 singles, Austin Siegel at No. 6 singles and a clinching win from Dane Webb at No. 4 singles to take the match. Harris, Siegel and Webb have all returned for the 2015 season.

INDOOR DOMINANCE

Unlike last year's meeting in Norman, Friday's match will be played indoors. It's the 13^th time the Sooners have played indoors this season. In its first 12 indoor matches, OU is 12-0 and won the 2015 ITA National Indoor Championship. OU's lone loss to this point came in its only outdoor match so far this season when No. 9 Texas A&M topped the Sooners 4-3 on a cold and windy night in College Station.

SOONERS RANKED

The Sooners made several jumps in the singles rankings last week. Junior Axel Alvarez is up four spots to No. 11, sophomore Andrew Harris moves all the way up to No. 12 from his previous spot at No. 26, senior Dane Webb jumps from No. 31 to No. 18 and sophomore Alex Ghilea moves from No. 63 to No. 56. The Sooners' top doubles pair of Alvarez and Webb comes in at No. 6 this week, while the new pairing of Harris and Ghilea makes its rankings debut at No. 52.

SCOUTING REPORT

Ohio State enters the match at 12-3 on the season. The Buckeyes' three losses have all come to top-25 opponent, and two of them came at the ITA National Indoors. OSU boasts wins over No. 7 Texas, No. 17 USF and No. 23 Notre Dame.

Ohio State has won its last 200 home matches, an NCAA record dating back to 2003.

BUCKEYES IN THE RANKS

No. 36 Mikael Topegaard - 16-6, 7-3 at No. 2 singles
No. 43 Chris Diaz – 13-7, 5-4 at No. 1 singles
No. 73 Ralf Steinbach – 17-6, 5-1 at No. 2 singles
No. 78 Herkko Pollanen – 9-6, 4-3 at No. 3 singles
No. 106 Hunter Callahan – 13-4, 6-0 at No. 4 singles

No. 4 Kevin Metka/Ralf Steinbach – 19-6, 10-3 at No. 1 doubles
No. 40 Hunter Callahan/Chris Diaz – 11-4, 7-2 in dual play

ON DECK

Oklahoma returns home Tuesday, March 10 to face the 12^th-ranked Cavaliers of Virginia at 5 p.m. That match will be streamed live on SoonerSports.tv and will re-air on FOX Sports Oklahoma Wednesday, March 11 at 10:30 p.m. and again Thursday, March 12 on FOX Sports Southwest at 9 a.m. and FOX Sports Oklahoma at midnight.

QUICK HITS

- The Sooners will play indoors Friday night. OU is 12-0 playing indoors this season.
- Oklahoma is 4-1 when losing the doubles point.
- The Sooners have sevens win against top-25 opponents. OU's next two opponents, Ohio State and Virginia, are both ranked in the top-15.
- Alvarez is the only Sooner with more than three appearances to be undefeated in dual play.
- Alvarez leads the team with 11 wins in dual play.
- The four Sooners currently ranked in singles are a combined 46-4 in dual play.
- In singles, the Sooners are a combined 17-5 against ranked opponents. No Sooner has more than one loss to a ranked opponent.
- The Sooners' doubles lineup against Florida State is a combined 14-2.