In a repeat of something Michigan fans have become all too familiar with, a Buckeye once again defeated a Wolverine.

This time it was Michigan men's tennis sophomore Evan King, who, for the second time in as many weeks, narrowly fell victim to Ohio State’s Blaz Rola.

Competing in the five-day USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships in South Bend, Indiana, King won his first four matches. And with a spot in the championship on the line, Rola upended King on Monday in the semfinals, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

King had a chance to serve for the match, but Rola came up with three winners to take the advantage.

“The level of tennis was very good from both players,” Michigan coach Bruce Berque said. “Even though (King) lost, I felt like he came a long way since that last time he played (Rola).”

On Oct. 9 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, King and Rola squared off in a match that ended in a manner eerily similar to Monday’s contest. The Chicago native took the first set from Rola in each match but failed to put away his opponent.

“It was a really good, high-quality set,” King said. “(The last set) was a pretty fun set. We were both hitting the ball hard, all the games were just grinds. At the end, he had one more good shot than I did.”

Rola, who King beat on the junior circuit, beat fellow Buckeye Matt Allare in the championship match. After two consecutive losses to his counterpart, King is looking forward to getting back on the court with Rola, especially given the nature of their schools’ rivalry.

“It’s going to be a fun, little rivalry that we could see for the next three years,” King said. “That guy was definitely the favorite for the final, and I gave him all he could handle.”

King began his draw with opening-round wins over Cleveland State’s Yannick Goossens and DePaul’s Ben Hartman before upsetting Notre Dame’s No. 69 Daniel Stahl. He advanced to the semifinals with a victory over Ohio State’s Balazs Novak, 6-2, 6-2, on Sunday.

After combining to finish 13-9 in singles play, the Wolverines have little time to rest. They travel to East Lansing this Friday to begin the weekend-long Big Ten Individuals. Though they will not send their top players — King and senior Jason Jung — Berque is looking forward to seeing improvements out of some his other competitors as they build on this past weekend.

“I’d like to take another step forward,” Berque said. “I’d like to see us have better results and to reach for a higher level further in the draw. It’s good to play tournaments back to back so it’s a good opportunity to continue some of the things they got into in match play.”