Women’s Tennis Home to Face the Bearcats – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/14/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 14, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Buckeyes (5-1) come back to Columbus for one match before beginning a stretch of matches on the road that will keep them away from home until April 1. The squad suffered its first loss of the season last weekend, suffering a heartbreaking loss to No. 5 Duke , 5-4.%^$
%^$Scouting Cincinnati
%^$The Bearcats are 6-0 in dual match play this season and are coming off a 9-0 win over Toledo. Junior Kara Molony leads the squad at No. 1. She reached the third round of the ITA Midwest Regional in November and needs only two more wins to become UC’s all-time victories leader in singles play. She teams with junior Lisa Pruett at the No. 1. doubles spot. Senior Amy Trocewicz and junior Katie Kerr contribute at No. 2 and 3 singles, respectively.The squad has posted three dual match wins this spring, including victories over Indiana State and Akron.%^$
%^$The Opposing Coach
%^$Carol Tanner is in her ninth season at the helm for Cincinnati. She is the all-time winningest coach at UC, compiling 82 dual wins thus far in her tenure. Tanner is still active in United States Tennis Association (USTA) events. She has been continually ranked in the top-five in the Greater Cincinnati area in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. She has also had tremendous success nationally, winning six USTA national event titles. She finished second in doubles and sixth in singles play at the national tournament in Houston, Texas a year ago.%^$
%^$The Series
%^$Ohio State has never lost to the Bearcats, going a perfect 10-0. The Buckeyes won the last meeting, 6-3, in Columbus in 1998.%^$
%^$The Buckeyes Last Weekend
%^$Vs. No. 41 Kansas
%^$Ohio State defeated No. 41 (tied) Kansas,7-2, Friday in Durham, N.C. In their first road match%^$of the spring, the Buckeyes improved their winning streak to five matches. The Buckeyes won four of six singles matches against the Jayhawks. The squad was led by Kristy Dascoli, who recorded a two-set victory at No. 1 over Brooke Chiller. Other Buckeyes chipping in with wins were Monica Rincon, Michelle Matko and Laura Maloney. Ohio State swept the doubles matches. Sadhaf Pervez and Maloney defeated Tiffany and Lisa Mallaiah of Kansas, 9-7, at No. 3 to stay undefeated this spring.
%^$Vs. No. 5 Duke
%^$Ohio State lost to No. 5 Duke, 5-4, in Durham, N.C. on Saturday. The match was tied, 4-4, when Duke’s Brooke Siebel and Erica Biro, the 25th-ranked duo in the country, defeated Castro and Matko, 8-5, at No. 2 doubles to give the Blue Devils the win. The Buckeyes won at the top three singles spots. Dascoli defeated No. 17-ranked Megan Miller, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1, while at No. 2 Rincon won over No. 31 Kathy Sell in three sets. After losing the first set of the match, Matko won the final two sets to defeat Duke’s Hillary Adams at No. 3 (3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2). Ohio State claimed one doubles victory, as Dascoli and Rincon won easily at No. 1 over Adams and Miller, 8-1.%^$
%^$On a Roll
%^$Monica Rincon has lost only once in her last 12 matches (11-1). She is undefeated in the spring with a 5-0 mark and has an overall record of 16-5. Her last loss was to then-seventh ranked Michelle Dasso of Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Regional.%^$
%^$Winning Streak Stopped
%^$The Buckeyes’ five-match winning streak was stopped in their loss to No. 5 Duke last weekend. The squad opened the season 5-0, a win-streak two matches longer than last season’s 3-0 start. Last year’s squad finished the year 14-11 overall.%^$
%^$The First Loss
%^$The doubles duo of Pervez and Maloney also had their winning streak stopped at five, as they suffered their first loss of the spring season against Duke. Pervez and Maloney fell to Duke’s Sell and Granson, 8-6. The tandem is 5-1 in the spring and 8-5 overall.%^$
%^$Unbeaten at the Top
%^$The Buckeyes have not yet lost a dual match at No. 1 or No. 2 singles this spring. Dascoli, Rincon and Matko have all chipped in with wins at No. 1, while Matko, Pervez and Rincon have kept the Buckeyes perfect at No. 2.%^$
%^$The Doubles Duos
%^$The newly-formed doubles duos of Dascoli/Rincon, Castro/Matko and Pervez/Maloney are performing well for Ohio State so far this spring. The squad is 14-4 overall in doubles, including 5-1 marks at both No. 1 and No. 3 and a record of 4-2 at No. 2.%^$
%^$The Coach
%^$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 174-102, while his mark at OSU moved to 41-39 with the Buckeyes 5-1 start this spring.%^$
%^$The Wins Leaders
%^$Rincon is leading the way for the Buckeyes with a 16-5 overall record this season. Pervez ranks second with 15 wins, while Dascoli has 14 and Matko is fourth with 13.%^$
%^$Almost Perfect
%^$Dascoli and Rincon both remain undefeated in dual matches this spring. Dascoli is 4-0 at No. 1, while Rincon is 5-0 playing mostly at No. 2 (4-0). The pair recently teamed up to play No. 1 doubles, where they are a near-perfect 4-1 this spring.%^$
%^$Going Away From Home
%^$After the match against Cincinnati, the Buckeyes will be on the road for the rest of February and all of March. The Buckeyes’ next home match (after UC) will be April 1 against Penn State and will be held outdoors at the Stickney Tennis Center.%^$
%^$Against the Ranked
%^$The Buckeyes are 2-1 this season against ranked opponents. The squad defeated then-No. 25 Marquette (5-4) and No. 41 Kansas (7-2) before falling to No. 5 Duke in a heartbreaking 5-4 loss. Last year the team was 3-9 over ranked opponents, including a mark of 1-6 against teams in the national Top 25.%^$
%^$The National Team Rankings
%^$The Buckeyes dropped from No. 35 to No. 36 in the most recent rankings released by the ITA (Feb. 7). The next ITA rankings will be released Wednesday and will include both team, singles and doubles ratings.%^$
%^$Buckeyes Nationally Ranked
%^$After reaching the final at the ITA Midwest Regional, Kristy Dascoli moved up in the national rankings from No. 50 to No. 39, the highest singles ranking in program history. Sophomore Michelle Matko received her first national ranking, No. 101 (tied), after going 8-3 in the fall.%^$
%^$The Big Ten is Tough
%^$Including Ohio State, nine of the Big Ten teams are ranked in the Top 75: Northwestern, 18th, Iowa, 33rd (tied), Illinois, 47th, Wisconsin, 49th, Indiana, 55th, Minnesota, 56th, Purdue, 64th, and Michigan, 69th.%^$
%^$Regionally Ranked Buckeyes
%^$In addition to her national ranking, Dascoli is ranked No. 2 in the Midwest Region in singles. The doubles duo of Monica Rincon and Claudia Castro is ranked No. 15, while Rincon is rated No. 17 in singles. Matko and Sadhaf Pervez are also rated in the Top 30 in the region, with rankings of No. 19 and No. 26, respectively.%^$
%^$Playing the Best
%^$In addition to the ranked Big Ten teams, the No. 36 Buckeyes still have four non-conference teams ranked in the national Top 75 remaining on their schedule: No. 14 Tennessee, No. 17 Notre Dame, No. 22 Kentucky and No. 54 San Diego State.%^$
%^$Beating the Best
%^$Against Duke, the Buckeyes were able to pull off two upsets in singles, as No. 39 Dascoli topped No. 17 Megan Miller and unranked Rincon bested No. 31 Kathy Sell.
