Women’s Tennis Players Head To Texas For Tournament – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/1/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 1, 2001
%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 22 Ohio State women’s tennis team has the week off from team competition, but two Buckeye netters are getting very little rest. Senior Kristy Dascoli (Sr., Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Academy) and junior Monica Rincon (Jr., Lapeer, Mich./Lapeer West) are in Dallas Feb. 1-4, for the heralded 2001 National Rolex Intercollegiate Indoor Championship.%^$
%^$Leading the Buckeyes
%^$Dascoli is back for her final season at first singles for the Buckeye squad. She led OSU in the fall with a 10-4 record and became OSU’s all-time record holder for singles wins with 82. In her career she now has amassed 85 victories.%^$
%^$She is ranked 19th in the nation and will play singles and doubles in Dallas. Dascoli will partner with Rincon for doubles. She qualified for the National Indoors by advancing to the final at the ITA Midwest Regional. She and Rincon received an at-large berth to the tournament to participate in doubles play. The senior is 2-1 on the year in singles competition.%^$
%^$Rincon also had a strong fall season. Rincon, who was named the ITA Midwest Region Player to Watch at the end of last year, went 7-3, and teamed up with Dascoli in doubles to notch an 8-4 record. She set the program record for most singles wins in a season with 30 last year.%^$
%^$On the year, she and Dascoli are 3-0 in doubles and have out-scored their opponents 24-4. The tandem is ranked No. 5 in the nation and No. 2 in the Midwest Region.%^$
%^$Scouting The Field
%^$The pairings for the National Indoorsevent not been announced yet, but the field is loaded. This year’s women’s singles field currently includes nine of the top 10 players in the Wingspan.Bank.com Rankings.%^$
%^$Highlighting the event, besides the two Buckeyes, is Stanford’s Laura Granville and Duke’s Ansley Cargill. Granville won last year’s NCAA and Rolex titles as a freshman. She is ranked No. 20. Cargill, No. 2 in the latest rankings, won the Riviera All-American in October and most recently claimed victory at the Adidas Tennis Classic last week in Orlando, Fla.%^$
%^$In doubles the competition is just as fierce. The No. 5 Buckeyes will be in the same field with the likes of No. 2 Paola Palencia of Pepperdine and Stanford’s No. 3-ranked tandem of Lauren Kalvaria and Gabriela Lastra.%^$
%^$We’re All Here
%^$All eight student-athletes from last year’s NCAA-qualifying team have returned for the Buckeyes this season.%^$
%^$A Perfect Start
%^$The Buckeyes are a perfect 3-0 on the year. They defeated West Virginia (7-0), Marquette (6-1) and Colorado (7-0). OSU has won every match in straight sets except one and has only lost one match on the year. This is the team’s fourth best start in the past 15 years. The Buckeyes started the season 6-0 in 1995-96 and 1989-90. Last year when OSU won the Big Ten regular season title, the Buckeyes began the season 5-0 before falling to Duke, 4-5.%^$
%^$At the Helm
%^$Coach Chuck Merzbacher (Minnesota, ’87), in his fifth season, has enjoyed much success since becoming the head man at OSU. He has compiled a 54-46 record, but has taken the Buckeyes from pretenders to contenders on the Big Ten and national stage. In Merzbacher’s first year, 1996-97, the team finished ninth in the Big Ten, but in only his fourth season the squad earned the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament and finished third.%^$
%^$The National Rankings
%^$The Buckeyes are ranked a program-record tying 22nd in the most recent rankings released by the ITA (Dec. 12). The squad is ranked No. 3 in the region, behind only Notre Dame and Northwestern.%^$
%^$The Best in the Region
%^$Regionally, four Buckeyes are ranked in singles, while two doubles teams are in the Top 10 in the Midwest Region. Kristy Dascoli is ranked second. Monica Rincon follows at No. 6. Freshman Erica Fisk is rated No. 18 and sophomore Sadhaf Pervez is No. 22. In doubles, Dascoli and Rincon are ranked second. The tandem of Pervez and Lindsay Williams holds the No. 9 spot. The duo has recorded wins over ranked teams in its last three outings. In that streak, they defeated No. 30 Nasser/Cheng of Northwestern, No. 19 Embry/Taheny of Purdue and No. 32 Anderson/Blanch of Indiana.%^$
%^$The Big Ten Tourney
%^$This season, the Buckeyes have the honor of hosting the Big Ten Tennis Championships at the Stickney Tennis Center. All 11 conference schools will compete in the tournament, scheduled for April 26-29, 2001. The tournament champion receives the Big Ten’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.%^$
%^$The Big Ten is Tough
%^$Once again this season, the competition in the Big Ten will be tough, as eight conference teams, including Ohio State, are ranked by the ITA. Northwestern has the highest ranking at No. 16, followed by Ohio State (22), Illinois (33), Minnesota (35), Iowa (44), Indiana (49), Michigan (57) and Purdue (58).%^$
%^$The Team Indoors
%^$This season, the Buckeyes have been invited to participate in the ITA Team Indoors in Madison, Wis., Feb. 15-18. Sixteen of the Top 25 teams in the nation will participate in the prestigious event.%^$
%^$Highlights of 1999-2000
%^$In 1999-00, the Buckeyes were 18-8 overall and 9-2 in Big Ten play. The team finished third in the Big Ten tournament after earning the No. 1 seed. The team qualified for the NCAA championships for the second-consecutive season in a row. In addition the team earned the highest ranking in program history (No. 22), tied the school record for wins in a season (18) and went undefeated (11-0) at home. Recorded the program’s first NCAA postseason victory by defeating the Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes.%^$
%^$Kristy Dascoli, a two-time All-Big Ten honoree, qualified for the national tournament for the third consecutive season. She is the only player in OSU history to qualify for the NCAA tournament.%^$
%^$Monica Rincon partnered with Dascoli to qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championship. The duo ended the season ranked No. 18 after an upset win in the first round. Rincon set a program record for most wins in a season (30).%^$
%^$The Spring Schedule
%^$The Buckeyes face a number of strong opponents in the spring. In addition to the conference schools, the Buckeyes have seven other ranked programs, including three Top 20 teams, on their schedule. 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).
