The Illinois men’s tennis team fell to Ohio State for the third time this season, this time with the most on the line. After losing to the Buckeyes in both the regular season and the Big Ten Tournament finals, the Illini dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker in the NCAA Tournament round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla.

“It was disappointing to lose such a close match,” head coach Brad Dancer said in a press release. “However, we know where our areas of improvement are and now we will take this summer to work on executing them.”

The Illini, seeded 15 in the tourney, won the doubles point, however, No. 2 Ohio State was persistent, pushing Illinois to a 3-3 match to be decided at No. 3 singles. After coming back from behind, Marc Spicijaric eventually lost to his Ohio State counterpart in a tiebreaker. The win gave the Buckeyes the match victory.

The match lasted nearly four and half hours.