Jan. 24, 2007

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 3 Ohio State men's tennis team earned its first two wins of the year Wednesday with 7-0 victories over Butler and Xavier at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State improved to 16-0 on the opening day of the season under eighth-year head coach Ty Tucker. The two home wins also extend the Buckeyes' home win streak to 42-consecutive matches dating back to the 2003 season.

Winning 27 of 30 doubles points last season, Ohio State began 2007 by claiming the doubles point in each match. OSU is now 8-0 all-time against Butler and improves its record to 16-0 against the Horizon League. The Buckeyes are 4-0 all-time vs. Xavier and are 12-3 against the Atlantic 10 Conference.

No. 1 Steven Moneke (So./So., Alten-Busick, Germany/Gesamtschale Giessen-Ost) improved his season record, which includes fall tournament action, to 19-4 after he earned two wins on the day. Moneke beat Butler's Evan West 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 2 spot, then downed Doug Mathews of Xavier 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 1 singles spot. No. 62 Bryan Koniecko (So./So., Long Island, N.Y./Syosset) defeated James Low of Butler 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 1 singles spot, then went on to beat Jeremy Miller of Xavier 6-1, 6-1. With the wins, Koniecko improves his record to 7-4. No. 42 Devin Mullings (Sr./Sr., Freeport, Bahamas/Ft. Lauderdale Prepatory) beat Eric Brietenbach of Butler 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 3 singles spot to earn his 12th singles win of the year. Ty Schaub (Jr./Jr., Lexington, Ohio/Lexington) and Dominic Ozanne (Sr./Jr., Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) each earned their first singles wins of the year when they beat Butler's Sandy Berry (6-4, 6-2) and Sam Brown (6-0, 6-3), respectively.

Senior Drew Eberly (Jr./Jr., Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) won his match against J.T. Torbeck of Xavier 6-0, 6-1. Eberly is 7-3 in singles on the year.

"I thought we played pretty well today," Eberly said. "Doubleheaders are always tough because they make for a long day. I think it was a good warm up for Washington on Sunday too. We are all really excited to get back to the team dual season. It's going to be a long season, but I think we got off to a good start."

The Buckeyes will face No. 18 Washington at noon Sunday at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center.

No. 3 Ohio State 7, Butler 0
Singles
1.#62 Bryan Koniecko (OSU/6-4) def. James Low (Butler) 6-1, 6-3
2.#1 Steven Moneke (OSU/18-4) def. Evan West (Butler) 6-1, 6-1
3.#42 Devin Mullings (OSU/12-3) def. Eric Brietenbach (Butler) 6-3, 6-1
4.#69 Justin Kronauge (OSU/6-4) def. Ben Raynauld (Butler) 6-2, 6-0
5.Ty Schaub (OSU/l-2) def. Sandy Berry (Butler) 6-4, 6-2
6.Dominic Ozanne (OSU/1-1) def. Sam Brown (Butler) 6-0, 6-3

Doubles
1.Justin Kronauge/Drew Eberly (OSU) def. James Low/ Ben Raynauld (Butler) 8-3
2.Devin Mullings/ Chris Klingemann (OSU) def. Eric Brietenbach/ Sandy Berry (Butler) 8-5
3.Steven Moneke/Bryan Koniecko (OSU) def. Evan West/ Chris Peric (Butler) 8-2

No. 3 Ohio State 7, Xavier 0
Singles
1.#1 Steven Moneke (OSU/19-4) def. Doug Mathews(Xavier) 6-1, 6-3
2.#62 Bryan Koniecko (OSU/7-4) def. Jeremy Miller (Xavier) 6-1, 6-1
3.#69 Justin Kronauge (OSU/7-4) def. Ra'ees Ismail (Xavier) 6-1, 6-0
4.#64 Drew Eberly (OSU/7-3) def. J.T. Torbeck (Xavier) 6-0, 6-1
5.#46 Chris Klingemann (OSU/11-3) def. Mike Doeciuc (Xavier) 6-3, 6-2
6.Mike O'Connell (OSU/2-2) def. Brian Schubert (Xavier) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles
1.Devin Mullings/ Chris Klingemann (OSU) def. Doug Mathews/ Jeremy Miller (Xavier) 8-4
2.Drew Eberly/Bryan Koniecko (OSU) def. Ra'ees Ismail / J.T. Torbeck (Xavier) 8-1
3.Steven Moneke/Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. Adam Shaeffer/ Anthony Palmenter 8-0