Question for Any Tennis Experts

[IAA Fan]

I have a question for you tennis experts out there. Aside from the obvious ...is there a reason why we never win any matches against major players? Here are some things that I question:

YSU men vs Michigan: Michigan 7, YSU 0

Singles
No. 1 -- Vlad Stefan (U-M) def. Sebastian Hagn (Youngstown State), 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (6)
No. 2 -- Justin Rossi (U-M) def. Max Schmerin (Youngstown State), 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 -- Alex Buzzi (U-M) def. Dawoud Kabli (Youngstown State), 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 -- Michael Zhu (U-M) def. Zeeshan Ismail (Youngstown State), 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 -- Kevin Wong (U-M) def. Rodrigo Campos (Youngstown State), 6-0, 6-3
No. 6 -- Tyler Gardiner (U-M) def. Sharvil Nawghare (Youngstown State), 6-1, 6-4

Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 22 Alex Buzzi/Barrett Franks (U-M) vs. Sebastian Hagn/Dawoud Kabli (Youngstown State), 3-5 DNF
No. 2 -- Justin Rossi/Kevin Wong (U-M) def. Max Schmerin/Rodrigo Campos (Youngstown State), 8-3
No. 3 -- Tyler Gardiner/Vlad Stefan (U-M) def. Zeeshan Ismail/Sharvil Nawghare (Youngstown State), 8-3

Then here is another score that I question:

YSU men vs #5 Ohio State:

In the opening match,  at #1 singles, the match is called at a 5-5 score. The guins go on to lose the series 4-0.

There are some similar scores with the ladies against power schools. I am not trying to call foul here, but something seems "fishy" and could just be missing something.

I know that all of these players are nationally-ranked. Is it possible that things happen to keep a nationally-ranked player from losing to a non-ranked opponent? I know that this used to happen in football quite a bit. Yet, we had little or no chance to beat an OSU in football. Likewise we have little chance to beat an OSU in tennis, but we could take a match or 2.

[Wick250]

IAA Fan,

Since no one has supplied the definitive answer to your questions, I will tell you the little that I know about college tennis.  In regards to doubles, it is not highly valued in the collegiate game.  It is always held first and three pairs compete.  But as soon as one school wins two matches, the single point is awarded and the third match stops immediately.  So there is no conspiracy in that Michigan score that you highlighted, although we appeared to be ahead in the No.1 doubles session.

As far as the six singles contests that make up the college match, I think that in league play the matches are all concluded.  But I might be wrong about that.  Perhaps in non-league contests, play might stop when one school secures the 4 wins necessary to claim the match by a prearrangement between the coaches.  That is total speculation on my part.

On that singles match against Michigan that you also highlighted, looks like the YSU player lost a six point tiebreaker after splitting the first two sets.  I think that they might use the tiebreaker format rather than a third set in the college game.  I could be wrong about that also.

[Pizza]

Tennis.....

Really???

[ysuhoops24]

I play some and follow pto tennis and some college and here is what I'll tell you.  The top talent tennis players for the most part don't go through college.  Isner did (Georgia I believe).  Most of these kids are turning to the pro ranks younger and younger (especially in the female game).  By the time you spread the talent to D1 it's hard for a school like Youngstown State to compete for recruits against schools out west and down south or even the major programs that have on campus tennis facilities that make the Boardman Tennis Center look sad.  Just do a facility check on at these major campuses.  Indoor facilites and outdoor facilites that get resurfaced yearly.  You ever see the outdoor courts at YSU (did they get rid of them yet), cracks everywhere, at least the last time I seen them. 

[IAA Fan]

Thanks Wick, that makes sense on the singles vs Michigan. On the doubles, how funny that soon as YSU gets 5 (meaning a tie at worst) the match game is called. Same thing happen vs Ohio State in singles.

Pizza. I try to follow all YSU sports. I am not really a big sports fan ...I just like my Guins. Outside of that ... I follow a little bit of the MLB and some F1. CWS (both men and women) and LLWS are also great fun to follow. I will check out an NCAA or NIT game or 2 ...always watch the small guys. I dislike most pro sports & even though my mind knows it is not entirely true ...I still choose to believe that collegiate sports are amateur.