To Stephen Bass, it may seem like he will never be able to escape the forehand of Steven Moneke.
Bass and Ohio State's Moneke last faced off Oct. 23 when Moneke topped the Irish junior 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Regional Championship. The two battled again Sunday in the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championship. Bass forced Moneke to pull off a tight win in the first set - Moneke pulled of one set point 5-4 and rallied to win the set 7-5. Bass was not able to challenge Moneke as much in the second set as the Buckeyes freshman walked away with 6-3 win and a place in the finals. Moneke's win over Bass was the fourth straight win that week for the German sophomore.
Moneke - unranked as of preseason polls - is proving to be a trial for all who step on his court. The Buckeye came close to knocking off UCLA's Ben Kohlloeffel - the No. 1 player in the country - but fell to him 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) in the finals.
En route to the semifinals, Bass pulled off a shocking upset defeating No. 2 John Isner of Georgia. Bass knocked off Isner in straight sets with a 6-4, 7-6(6) victory. The win placed Bass in the quarterfinals against Boise State's Luke Shields. Bass fell 6-1 in the opening set but rallied to post 7-6(3) and 7-6(5) tiebreakers.
Bass' teammate Sheeva Parbhu fell to Old Dominion Harel Srugo 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-1. Parbhu defeated Jakob Cech of Fresno State 7-5, 7-6 in the first round of the Consolation. Georgia's Luis Flores defeated Parbhu 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
Parbhu and doubles partner Ryan Keckley lost to San Diego State's Markus Dickhardt and Christian Groh 8-6 in the first round of the tournament. Defeat did not deter the duo as they went on to knock off three pairs and win the Consolation final. Parbhu and Keckley defeated William and Mary's Alex Cojanu and Colin O'Brien 8-5 to secure their victory.
