Women’s Tennis Plays Three More on the Road – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/21/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 21, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Buckeyes (7-4, 1-0 Big Ten) will complete their seven-match road trip when they travel to San Diego State (Wednesday), Wisconsin (Saturday) and Iowa (Sunday).%^$
%^$Scouting San Diego State
%^$The Aztecs, ranked No. 66 (tied), are 7-5 overall this spring. The squad put together a three-match winning streak before falling to Purdue, 5-4. SDSU then rebounded with a victory over CS Northridge, 6-3. The team, a member of the Mountain West Conference, is led by Whitney Wells, who is 6-5 at No. 1, and Katja Karrento, who is 7-5 in dual matches playing mainly at No. 2. In doubles, Laura Aguero and Wells are 4-4 at No. 1. The squad has had a number of different doubles team at the No. 2 and 3 spots so far this spring.%^$
%^$The SDSU Coach
%^$Peter Mattera is in his seventh year at the helm for the Aztecs. He holds a record of 96-61 at SDSU and was the assistant coach at the school for 12 years before being named head coach in January, 1993.%^$
%^$OSU vs. SDSU
%^$The Buckeyes and Aztecs have never met.%^$
%^$Scouting Wisconsin
%^$The Badgers are currently 5-8 overall and lost to No. 9 Pepperdine, 8-1, their last time out. The squad is led by the No. 35-ranked doubles team of April Gable and Lara Vojnov, who are 6-7 at No. 1 this spring. Gabler also plays No. 1 singles for the squad. Shana McElroy leads the team in wins with an overall mark of 18-12 this year. The team is 0-2 in Big Ten play after losing to No. 43 Indiana and No. 63 Purdue.%^$
%^$The Wisconsin Coach
%^$Patti Henderson is in her sixth year as the head coach of the Badgers. During her tenure she has guided the Badgers to four NCAA Tournament appearances and a Big Ten Conference Championship (1996). She led the squad to a second-place finish in the Big Ten last season.%^$
%^$OSU vs. UW
%^$Wisconsin leads the all-time series between the squads, 26-3. Last season the Badgers topped the Buckeyes, 4-3, in Columbus.%^$
%^$Scouting Iowa
%^$The Hawkeyes, ranked 56th (tied) are 3-9 overall this spring and are currently on a five-game losing streak. They most recently fell to No. 11 William & Mary, 7-2. Natalya Dawaf upset No. 34 Delphine Troch of W&M, 7-6 (16-14), 6-4, in the squad’s last match. The doubles tandem of Toni Neykova and Shera Wiegler, who qualified for the NCAA doubles tournament last season, is ranked No. 21 in the country. Last season the team reached the NCAA Championships and ended the year ranked No. 25.%^$
%^$The Iowa Coach
%^$Paul Wardlaw is in his second season at the helm for the Hawkeyes. In his first year he led the squad to a Top 25 national ranking and an NCAA tournament appearance. Prior to coming to Iowa, Wardlaw was the men’s and women’s tennis and women’s soccer coach at Kenyon College (Ohio) for eight years.%^$
%^$OSU vs. Iowa
%^$The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series between the squads, 15-8. Last season the Buckeyes beat Iowa, 4-3, in Columbus.%^$
%^$The Buckeyes’ Coach
%^$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 176-105, while his mark at OSU has improved to 43-42.%^$
%^$Rincon is Rolling
%^$Monica Rincon received her first national ranking, No. 94 (tied), in the most recent rankings by the ITA. She started the spring season off on a roll, winning her first eight matches. After suffering a three-set loss against Kentucky she got back on the right foot, winning over Tennessee to move her spring record to 9-1. Rincon has a record of 20-6 this season, making this her second-consecutive 20 win season.%^$
%^$Homecoming
%^$After their current seven-match road swing, the Buckeyes will return home for six consecutive home matches, beginning with a contest against Big Ten foe No. 46 Penn State April 1 at 1 p.m. Ohio State will also face Miami (Ohio), No. 10 Northwestern, No. 58 Illinois, No. 62 Purdue and No. 26 Indiana. The Buckeyes are a perfect 5-0 at home this spring.%^$
%^$The National Team Rankings
%^$The Buckeyes, currently ranked No. 34, have not been ranked lower than No. 38 at any point this season.%^$
The Buckeyes in the ITA rankings so far:%^$Fall 38%^$Feb. 2 35 (Tied)%^$Feb. 9 36%^$Feb. 16 33%^$Feb. 23 34%^$March 1 33%^$March 8 31%^$March 15 34%^$
%^$The End of the Road
%^$This week’s matches are the end of a seven-match road swing for the Buckeyes. Six of the seven opponents in this stretch are ranked in the Top 75 by the ITA.%^$
%^$The Wins Leader
%^$Rincon leads the Buckeyes with a 20-6 overall mark this season. Pervez ranks second with an 18-9 mark, while Dascoli is third with a record of 17-9.%^$
%^$Facing the Ranked
%^$The Buckeyes are 3-4 this season against ranked opponents. The squad has recorded wins over No. 25 Marquette (5-4), No. 41 Kansas (7-2) and No. 60 Minnesota (4-3) but has lost to four Top 25 teams. Last year, the team was 3-9 over ranked opponents, including a mark of 1-6 against teams in the national Top 25.%^$
%^$UT – The Bucks’ Last Time Out
%^$The Buckeyes fell to No. 19 Tennessee, 6-3, on March 11. The Buckeyes recorded wins at the top two spots, as Dascoli came back to defeat No. 59 Alison Ojeda in three sets and Rincon won at No. 2 in two sets. Martin lost a close three-set match, falling, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 at No. 6. OSU also had two close doubles matches, as the No. 1 tandem of Dascoli and Rincon lost, 9-8(6), and Bowen and Matko won, 9-8(7), at No. 3.%^$
%^$Playing in the Sun
%^$The Buckeyes have played one match outside so far this season, losing to Kentucky, 5-4. Last year the squad was 3-7 when playing outdoors.%^$
%^$The Singles Record Book
%^$With a career singles record of 61-32, Dascoli needs one more wins to move into a tie for eighth place in all-time career singles wins (62). The all-time leader is Maria Olazagatsti, who compiled a record of 81-20 from 1977-79.%^$
%^$Leading in Doubles
%^$Rincon leads the squad in overall doubles victories this year with 15, followed by Castro (13) and Dascoli (12). Five Buckeyes have seven doubles victories this spring: Dascoli, Maloney, Matko, Pervez and Rincon.%^$
%^$Going the Distance
%^$The Buckeyes have had 16 matches go to three sets this spring, including a team-high four by Pervez and Rincon. Rincon is 3-1 in the spring, while Dascoli is 2-0 and Pervez is 2-2. Overall, the team has had 31 three-setters, recording a mark of 18-13. Rincon and Dascoli lead with four three-set victories each.%^$
%^$The Single-Season Record
%^$For the second-consecutive season, Rincon is approaching the Top 10 in program history for season singles wins. Her mark of 23-10 last year ranks ninth all-time in program history. Maria Olazagatsti holds the record for most singles wins in a season with 29 in 1977, while Kristen Jordan has the most wins (27 in 1997) since the NCAA limited the number of competitive dates to 25 in 1992. Rincon needs two more wins to tie for 10th place on the list with 22.%^$
%^$Leading the Way in Doubles
%^$Overall, Rincon has also compiled the most doubles wins for the squad, with a record of 14-6 this year. Castro ranks second with a 12-8 mark, while Dascoli and Pervez have both compiled records of 11-7.%^$
%^$The Single-Season Record
%^$For the second-consecutive season, Rincon is approaching the Top 10 in program history for season singles wins. Her mark of 23-10 last year ranks ninth all-time in program history. Maria Olazagatsti holds the record for most singles wins in a season with 29 in 1977, while Kristen Jordan has the most wins (27 in 1997) since the NCAA limited the number of competitive dates to 25 in 1992. Rincon needs two more wins to tie for 10th place on the list with 22.%^$
%^$Standout Freshmen
%^$The Buckeyes’ freshman class of Bowen, Martin and Pervez have all contributed to the team’s success this season. Pervez currently plays at No. 4 singles and No. 3 doubles for the Buckeyes, while Bowen and Martin have stepped into the lineup when needed. Overall, Pervez has gone 18-9 in singles and 11-9 in doubles. Bowen is 3-8 in singles and 4-1 in doubles and Martin is 7-8 in singles play and 1-0 in doubles.%^$
%^$The Schedule
%^$This spring the Buckeyes face a strong schedule, as they will go up against 12 teams, including five Big Ten opponents, that competed in the NCAA team championship last season.%^$
%^$Staying Competitive
%^$The Buckeyes have not been shutout since a 9-0 loss to Duke, Feb. 13, 1999. Since Merzbacher took over the program, the squad has only failed to win at least one match only three times. Ohio State was not shutout in any matches in 1998 and only suffered two blankings in 1997, Merzbacher’s first season with the team.%^$
%^$Counting on Doubles
%^$The Buckeyes have been strong in doubles this season, as they have only lost more than one doubles match four times this spring. All four of those matches were against teams ranked in the Top 25 (Marquette, Duke, Notre Dame and Tennessee).%^$
%^$The Records Overall
%^$As a team, the Buckeyes have recorded an overall singles mark of 103-71 this season, while they have gone 40-26 in doubles. The squad is 42-27 in singles and 22-11 in doubles through 11 dual matches this spring.%^$
%^$Strong at the Top
%^$The Buckeyes have recorded a mark of 19-3 at the top two spots, while the squad is 22-22 at the lower four spots in the lineup.%^$
No. 1: 9-2%^$No. 2: 10-1%^$No. 3: 6-5%^$No. 4: 6-5%^$No. 5: 5-6%^$No. 6: 5-6%^$
%^$The Big Ten is Tough
%^$Including Ohio State, nine of the Big Ten teams are ranked in the Top 75: Northwestern, 12th, Iowa, 36th, Illinois, 44th, Wisconsin, 59th, Indiana, 38th, Minnesota, 60th, Purdue, 54th, and Michigan, 58th.%^$
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–GO BUCKS!!–
