Women’s Tennis Hosts Big Ten Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/25/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 25, 2001
%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State has the honor of playing host to the Big Ten Championships Thursday-Sunday at the Stickney Tennis Center. All 11 conference schools will compete in the tournament. The tournament begins Thursday with the lower six seeds competing. Quarterfinal matches are Friday with the semifinals Saturday. The final will be Sunday at noon. The Buckeyes (16-9, 7-3 Big Ten), led by coach Chuck Merzbacher, are the No. 4 seed in the tournament and play their first match against fifth-seeded Iowa Thursday at 2 p.m.%^$
%^$OSU in the Tourney
%^$The Buckeyes have never won the Big Ten Championships. Last season they were the No. 1 seed and advanced to the semifinals before falling to Minnesota.%^$
%^$Buckeyes vs. Hawkeyes
%^$OSU and Iowa have met 25 times with the Hawkeyes holding a 16-9 series lead. The two squads squared off March 24 in Iowa City. The Buckeyes downed the Hawkeyes, 6-1, winning the doubles point and five of the six singles matches.%^$
%^$The National Rankings
%^$The Buckeyes are ranked 33rd in the most recent rankings released by the ITA (April 18). The squad is ranked No. 3 in the region, behind only Notre Dame and Northwestern.%^$
%^$Leading the Buckeyes
%^$Kristy Dascoli (Sr., Bradenton, Fla.), the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, is in her final season at No. 1 singles for the Buckeye squad. Dascoli was the Big Ten Athlete of Month for March. She is OSU’s all-time leader in wins and is ranked 33rd in the nation. Last weekend she posted two singles wins to become the first female Buckeye to reach the 100-win plateau.%^$
%^$Monica Rincon (Jr. Lapeer, Mich.) was named the ITA Midwest Region Player to Watch at the end of last year when she set the program record for most singles wins in a season with 30. This season Rincon has an overall record of 22-11. She teams up with Dascoli to form one of the most feared doubles team in the Midwest. The two are 24-14 overall and a blistering 9-1 in Big Ten play.%^$
%^$Scouting Iowa
%^$The Hawkeyes, coached by Paul Wardlaw, are 12-8 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten. They enter the tournament playing some extremely strong tennis as they have won their last four Big Ten matches. They are lead by junior Toni Neykova. She has played primarily at No. 1 singles this year and is better than her 8-12 record indicates. She tested Dascoli the last time the two played (March 24), but fell 6-4. 6-3.%^$
%^$The Big Ten is Tough
%^$Once again this season, the competition in the Big Ten is fierce, as seven conference teams, including Ohio State, are ranked by the ITA. Northwestern has the highest ranking at No. 11, followed by Ohio State (33), Illinois (34), Indiana (35), Iowa (40), Penn State (48), Purdue (67) and Minnesota (71). Only Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin are not ranked.%^$
%^$Scouting The Field
%^$The Big Ten Championships feature some of the best teams and players in the nation. No. 1 seed Northwestern is the team to beat. They are ranked No. 11 and went through the Big Ten with a perfect 10-0 record. They have wins over No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 13 Baylor and No. 15 USC. The Wildcats are led by Colleen Cheng. The senior is No. 40 in the nation and 9-1 in the Big Ten. Her lone loss was to OSU’s Dascoli.%^$
%^$The No. 2 seed is the Fighting Illini of Illinois. The Illini had a great season as they went 9-1 in the Big Ten with their sole loss coming to NU.%^$
%^$Indiana collected the 3rd seed over OSU on a head-to-head tiebreaker. Both teams are 7-3 in the conference, but the Hoosiers defeated OSU, 5-2, April 13.%^$
%^$Recapping Last Time Out
%^$April 21, OSU fell to conference opponent Illinois, 4-3. The Buckeyes, as they have done most of the year, started off playing strong tennis. They won two of the three doubles matches to win the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead in the match. At No. 1 Dascoli and Rincon cruised to an 8-4 win. Laura Maloney (Sr., Barrington, Ill.) and Sadhaf Pervez (So., Warren, N.J.) also won, 8-4, at No. 2. Dascoli and Rincon posted singles wins.%^$
%^$The next day OSU lost at No. 11 Northwestern, 5-2. The match was the last regular-season tuneup for the two schools before the Big Ten Championships. OSU won two double matches to win the doubles point, but Dascoli was the only Buckeye to win a singles match.%^$
%^$At the Helm
%^$Coach Chuck Merzbacher (Minnesota, ’87), in his fifth season, has enjoyed much success since becoming the head man at OSU. He has compiled a 70-55 record, and 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.%^$
%^$All Alone at 100
%^$Reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Athlete of the Month for March Kristy Dascoli picked up wins against Illinois (April 21) and Northwestern (April 22) to become the first OSU tennis player to reach the century mark. Her historic 100th victory was in dominating fashion as she controlled the entire match and dropped NU’s Colleen Cheng 6-4, 6-0.%^$
%^$Dascoli in the Big Ten
%^$Over her four-year career Kristy Dascoli has been nearly unstoppable in the Big Ten. She has played at No. 1 singles her entire career and has amassed an impressive 35-4 Big Ten regular season record. As a freshman she was 8-2 in the conference and followed that up with a 9-1 showing her sophomore year. As a junior Dascoli went 9-0 and this year she was 9-1.%^$
%^$Dascoli Honored
%^$Kristy Dascoli was recognized by the Big Ten for her stellar play as she was named athlete of the month for March. During the month she was 5-1 at No. 1 singles and 3-3 when she partnered with Rincon at No. 1 doubles.%^$
%^$Pervez Putting it Together
%^$Sadhaf Pervez has won eight of her last 10 matches and has an overall record of 22-14. She had a tremendous Big Ten season going 8-2. Her conference record was second best on the team behind Dascoli’s 9-1.%^$
%^$Approaching 50
%^$In just two short years Sadhaf Pervez is only one win shy of 50 for her career. She turned in a stellar freshman season going 27-14. Her 27 wins were the fifth most in school history. This season Pervez has developed into a team leader and has totaled 22 wins to 14 losses.%^$
%^$Freshmen Coming Through
%^$Erica Fisk (Fr., Indianapoli, Ind.) and Lindsay Williams (Fr., Beverly Hills, Mich.) are almost finished with their first year of collegiate tennis. Both have proved to irreplacable in the Buckeye lineup. Fisk has had a stronghold at No. 4 singles since the beginning of the season. She led the team in wins for the majority of the season, but right now is second with 22. Williams took over at No. 6 singles 11 matches ago at UNLV (March 22) and has provided OSU with some big points. She went 5-3 in the Big Ten while posting a 13-9 overall record.%^$
%^$Double Trouble
%^$The tandem of Sadhaf Pervez and Laura Maloney has been a consistent force for OSU at No. 2 doubles this spring. The duo has posted a team-best 18-6 dual match record. Two of those wins were recorded at the No. 1 spot.%^$
%^$Twenty Something
%^$Four Buckeyes have reached the 20-win plateau this season. Dascoli leads the team in wins with 27. Fisk, Pervez and Rincon follow with 22.%^$
%^$A Milestone for Coach
%^$Coach Merzbacher collected his 200th career win April 4 when OSU defeated Miami (Ohio). Seventy of his 203 wins have come at OSU. His first 50 wins were at Northern Illinois, where he coached for three years. He then garnered 83 victories in four years at Kansas. He has 69 wins under his belt as a Buckeye and nearly half of those wins (34) have come in less than a year and a half. He compiled 18 last year and 16 this year.%^$
%^$What a Recruiter
%^$A player’s success is measured by how many tallies there are in the win column. Ever since Merzbacher was hired five years ago the wins have been piling up. Four of the Top 10 season singles winners are on the squad this year and all of them were recruited by Merzbacher. The players, their records and years are as follows.%^$
%^$
1. Monica Rincon 30-11 2000%^$2. Kristy Dascoli 29-11 2000%^$5. Kristy Dascoli 27-12 2001%^$5. Sadhaf Pervez 27-14 2000%^$7. Michelle Matko 26-11 2000%^$10. Kristy Dascoli 25-10 1998%^$
%^$Streak Snapped
%^$The loss to Indiana (April 13) was OSU’s first regular-season Big Ten loss since last year when Iowa defeated OSU in Iowa City. Prior to the 13th the Buckeyes had won 13 Big Ten matches in a row.%^$
%^$Holding Their Own
%^$The Buckeyes finished 7-3 in conference play to finish tied for third with Indiana. In singles competition OSU is a combined 37-23 in Big Ten play and 148-96 overall. The Buckeyes combined doubles record in the Big Ten is 20-10 and they are 69-52 overall.%^$
%^$OSU’s All-Time Leader
%^$Kristy Dascoli became OSU’s all-time record holder for singles wins when she recorded her 82nd career victory this fall when she defeated Notre Dame’s Becky Varnum in the ITA Midwest Regional Nov. 5. Dascoli, who now owns a career mark of 100-46, broke the old mark of 81 wins, held by Maria Olazagatsti (1977-79).%^$
%^$All in a Week’s Work
%^$The Buckeyes have only one loss on Sunday, but have picked up more wins on Saturday than any other day. A daily record breakdown follows.%^$
Sunday 5-1%^$Monday 0-0%^$Tuesday 0-0%^$Wednesday 1-1%^$Thursday 1-1%^$Friday 2-3%^$Saturday 7-3%^$
%^$In the Win Column
%^$In 23 matches, OSU has squared off against 15 teams ranked nationally. The Buckeyes hold an 8-7 record against ranked teams. They defeated No. 8 UCLA (5-2), No. 36 Iowa (6-1), No. 43 Minnesota (7-0), No 43 Penn State (5-2), No. 62 Maryland (7-0), No. 64 Marquette (6-1), No. 75 Wisconsin (5-2), and No. 75 UNLV (4-3). OSU’s losses came to perennial powers No. 3 Duke, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 11 Northwestern, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 24 Kentucky. The Buckeyes also lost to No. 34 Illinois, No. 40 Oklahoma State and No. 41 Indiana.%^$
%^$The Spring Schedule
%^$The Buckeyes faced a number of strong opponents in the spring. In addition to the conference schools, the Buckeyes had nine other ranked programs, including five Top 15 teams, on their schedule. Ohio State has faced Duke (3), Notre Dame (5), Pepperdine (7), UCLA (8) Tennessee (14), Kentucky (24), Maryland (62), Marquette (64) and UNLV (75).
