Women’s Tennis Players Ranked Among Nation’s Best by ITA – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Dec. 13, 2000
%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team, in addition to two of its singles players and two of its doubles teams, was ranked in the fall national rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.%^$
%^$Kristy Dascoli (Sr., Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Academy) surpassed the Ohio State record of No. 32 she set last season. In the most recent rankings, she broke into the Top 20 and received a ranking of No. 19. She became the all-time wins leader at Ohio State during the fall with a record of 10-4 and now has a career mark of 83-38. Dascoli, the 2000 Big Ten Player of the Year, has qualified for the last three NCAA Singles Championships.%^$
%^$Monica Rincon (Jr., Lapeer, Mich./West), the 2000 ITA Player to Watch in the Midwest Region, is ranked No. 83. She was 7-3 in the fall season. Last year she compiled a mark of 30-11 to set the all-time mark for singles wins in a season.%^$
%^$In doubles, the tandem of Dascoli and Rincon received a program record ranking of No. 5. The duo, which qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship last season, was 8-4 in the fall. They reached the final of the ITA Midwest Regional and advanced to the semifinals at the ITA National Clay Court Championships.%^$
%^$The Buckeyes’ duo of freshman Erica Fisk (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) and senior Laura Maloney (Barrington, Ill.) is ranked No. 39. The tandem was 3-3 in the fall, including a win over the ranked duo of Petra Sedlemajerova and Eva Novotna of Kansas State.%^$
%^$As a team, the Buckeyes tied the program record with a ranking of No. 22. Northwestern is the only Big Ten team ranked higher than OSU at No. 16. Six other conference schools are ranked: Illinois (33), Minnesota (35), Iowa (44), Indiana (49), Michigan (57) and Purdue (58).%^$
%^$In addition to the conference schools, the Buckeyes have seven other ranked programs, including three Top 20 teams, on their schedule. In the spring, Ohio State will face No. 4 Duke, No. 13 Notre Dame and No. 17 Tennessee. Other ranked opponents include Kentucky (32), UNLV (55), Marquette (56) and Maryland (64).%^$
%^$”We are very pleased to be in the Top 25,” Chuck Merzbacher, Ohio State head coach, said. “Having a number of ranked opponents on our schedule, including four Top 25 teams, will give us the opportunity to face some of the best teams in the nation. We are excited about the chance to move up in the rankings with success against those teams.”%^$
%^$The Buckeyes open their spring season Jan. 21 when they travel to Pittsburgh to face the Mountaineers of West Virginia. The squad’s first home matches will be Feb. 24 when it takes on DePaul and Akron.
