Women’s Tennis Travels to Penn State – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/30/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 30, 1999
The Penn State Invitational
%^$The Ohio State women’s tennis team will travel to University Park, Pa. to compete in the Penn State Invitational, Friday through Sunday. The schools participating in the tournament will be Penn State, Ohio State, Temple, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Eastern Michigan. Kristy Dascoli and Briana Harris will not be making the trip for the Buckeyes to save playing dates for the players.%^$
%^$The Bucks at the Clay Courts
%^$The Buckeyes last competed at the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships. Leading the way for the squad was Kristy Dascoli, who advanced to the main draw of the singles championship after recording three victories in the qualifying round. %^$
%^$Buckeyes Nationally Ranked
%^$After ending last season ranked 69th (tied) in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, Kristy Dascoli has moved up to No. 50 in the ITA Preseason Rankings. Dascoli and Briana Harris are No. 7 in the country in the preseason doubles rankings, up from No. 20 after last season.%^$
%^$The Coach
%^$Chuck Merzbacher is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Buckeyes. He earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors after leading the squad to a 14-11 record last season. His overall career record is 169-101, while his mark at OSU is 36-38.%^$
%^$OSU to Host Midwest Regional
%^$Ohio State has the honor of hosting the top players in the region at the ITA Midwest Regional No. 3-8 at The Racquet Club of Columbus. At least one player from each team in the region has the opportunity to compete in the tournament, which begins Nov. 3 with qualifying. The singles main draw will not be smaller than 32 players and the doubles main draw will consist of 16 or more teams.%^$
%^$Buckeye Newcomers
%^$Merzbacher has added three freshmen to the roster for this season. Sadhav Pervez, of Warren, N.J., was a two-time county champion and has been ranked as high as seventh in the nation in doubles. Taryn Bowen and Katherine Martin will add depth to the squad. Bowen, from Columbus, was the No. 1 singles player on Upper Arlington High School’s No. 11-ranked varsity squad. Martin was the Big-9 Conference Player of the Year as a senior.%^$
%^$Academic Standouts
%^$The Buckeyes were one of 43 Division I women’s squads honored by the ITA for compiling a team cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale) last season.%^$
%^$A Record-Setting Year
%^$Last season was the first year an Ohio State team, singles player and doubles team all qualified for the NCAA tournament. The squad finished the year with a 14-11 overall record, going 6-4 in the Big Ten.%^$
%^$Moving Up in the Big Ten
%^$The Buckeyes have finished higher in the Big Ten each year under Merzbacher. The squad was 6-4 last season, placing sixth in the conference, the highest ever for an OSU squad.%^$
%^$New Assistant
%^$Dr. David Andrews has joined the OSU women’s tennis staff as a volunteer assistant coach. He is an active member and regular speaker at regional and national conventions of the United States Professional Tennis Association and the United States Tennis Association. Andrews has worked with high school and college players, parents and coaches for the past 10 years, focusing on creating healthy and productive environments for competition. He is Dean of the College of Human Ecology and Professor of Human Development at OSU.%^$
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-GO BUCKS!-
