Toledo, Ohio – The University of Toledo men's tennis team will travel to Columbus this weekend to take on No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 5:00 p.m.

The Rockets will be hitting the courts after a mixed weekend, sweeping Wright State 7-0 and coming up short against Dayton 5-2 at home.
 
"Every day we focus on small steps to improve," head coach Al Wermer said. "Every match we want to do the same. This annual battle with such a great team gives us an opportunity to see how we measure up and find our weaknesses."

The Midnight Blue and Gold kicked off their home campaign on Friday with the sweep over Wright State, where senior Luka Vitosevic, junior Danilo Vukotic, sophomore Tyler Gargas, and freshman Cole Shoults defeated their opponents in two sets. Senior Vince Anzalone and junior Thawin Suksathaporn claimed victories after three, and the Rockets claimed the doubles point with victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.
 
On Sunday, Suksathaporn and senior Omar Espinosa scored the Rockets' only points against Dayton, sweeping their opponents in two sets. The Rockets dropped the doubles point despite Gargas/Suksathaporn's victory at the No. 3 position.
 
Prior to its match against Toledo, Ohio State will be one of 15 campus sites across the country hosting the ITA 2019 Men's Kick-Off Weekend. The Buckeyes will be opening play against Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) on Saturday, Jan. 26, and will face Arkansas or Cornell on Sunday, Jan. 27.
 
Last Time Against Ohio State
The Rockets faced Ohio State twice last season on Jan. 28 and Apr. 8. At the Jan. 28 meeting. the No. 2 ranked Buckeyes took a 5-0 sweep. Meeting again in April, OSU took a second sweep with a score of 4-0.
 
Scouting Ohio State
Last season Ohio State had a 34-3 record, posting 20 sweeps, half of which were conference matches. The Buckeyes' only three losses came at the hands of UCLA, Georgia, and Wake Forest.
 
The Buckeyes return nationally ranked junior JJ Wolf and redshirt-junior Kyle Seelig. Wolf had a 25-9 singles record (4-0 at the No. 1 position and 18-5 at the No. 2 position). He finished the 2017-18 season with a 12-8 record against nationally ranked opponents. During the January match against the Rockets, Wolf was ranked #60. In doubles play, he ended the season with a 16-10 record.

Seelig had a 32-10 singles record last season, posting a 6-4 record against nationally ranked opponents. He had been ranked #26 when the Buckeyes faced Toledo in January and had been ranked #71 during the April rematch. Seelig finished the season with the most singles tournament wins with a record of 10-4 and was named to the 2018 NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team.