Ohio State and Penn State Advance at Big Ten Championship – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 27, 2001
COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 4 seed Ohio State topped No. 5 Iowa and No. 6 seed Penn State upset No. 3 Indiana to advance to the semifinals of the 2001 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Championship today at the Stickney Tennis Center. The Buckeyes topped No. 5 Iowa, 4-2, while Penn State defeated the Hoosiers, 4-2, in a four-hour match. Both winning squads rebounded after losing the doubles point to open their respective matches.
Ohio State moves on to face No. 1 Northwestern and Penn State will face No. 2 Illinois in the semifinals. The matches will be played at noon Saturday at the Stickney Tennis Center. The final will be held at noon Sunday.
Ohio State’s Kristy Dascoli and Monica Rincon posted an 8-1 win at No. 1 singles over Toni Neykova and Deni Alexandrova to begin the match. The Hawkeyes rebounded to sweep the final two doubles matches and earn the doubles point. At No. 2, Megan Kearney and Jody Scheldt topped Laura Maloney and Sadhaf Pervez, 8-4. Erica Johnson and Pascale Veraverbeke defeated Erica Fisk and Claudia Castro, 8-4, at No. 3.
Ohio State rebounded to win four singles matches and advance to the semifinals. Pervez posted a win over Johnson at No. 3 (6-1, 6-2) for the Buckeyes’ first win. Rincon followed with a 6-1, 6-4, victory over Deni Alexandrova at No. 2 and Maloney beat Veraverbeke (6-3, 6-4) at No. 5. At No. 1 Dascoli won the first set and won the tiebreaker in the second set (6-2, 7-6 (6) to clinch the win for Ohio State. Jody Scheldt, who was a late insertion into the lineup after Steffi Hoch became ill, recorded the Hawkeyes’ singles win with a 6-0, 6-0, victory over Ohio State’s Lindsay Williams at No. 6. The Hoosiers won two doubles matches to earn the doubles point. At No. 2, Indiana’s Karie Schlukebir and Linda Tran topped Judy Wang and Janelle Perez, 8-4, while at No. 3 Jennifer Hsia and Amanda Field posted an 8-4 victory over Teresa Whiteside and Leigh Ann Merryman.
In singles, Penn State won three three-set matches and one straight-set match to upset the Hoosiers. Rebecca Ho clinched the win for the Nittany Lions with a win over Amanda Field (6-3, 4-6, 6-3) at No. 2. At No. 4 Perez topped Wang, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, and at No. 6 Leigh Ann Merryman rebounded after losing the first set to top Martina Grimm, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0. Penn State’s Pilar Montgomery won at No. 1 over Kelly Blanch (6-2, 6-4), while Indiana’s Karie Schlukebir won at No. 5 over Kristen Nowicki to post the Hoosiers’ lone singles victory.
2001 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Championships Stickney Tennis Center, Columbus, Ohio Quarterfinals, April 27, 2001
No. 4 Ohio State 4, No. 5 Iowa 2 Doubles 1. Dascoli/Rincon (OSU) def. Neykova/Alexandrova (UI) 8-1 2. Kearney/Scheldt (UI) def. Maloney/Pervez (OSU) 8-4 3. Johnson/Veraverbeke (UI) def. Fisk/Castro (OSU) 8-4 Singles 1. Kristy Dascoli (OSU) def. Toni Neykova (UI) 6-2, 7-6 (6) 2. Monica Rincon (OSU) def. Deni Alexandrova (UI) 6-1, 6-4 3. Sadhaf Pervez (OSU) def. Erica Johnson (UI) 6-1, 6-2 4. Megan Kearney (UI) vs. Erica Fisk (OSU) 6-3 (UI), 5-5 abd. 5. Laura Maloney (OSU) def. Pascale Veraverbeke (UI) 6-3, 6-4 6. Judy Scheldt (UI) def. Lindsay Williams (OSU) 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 Penn State 4, No. 3 Indiana 2 Doubles 1. Blanch/Levin (IU) vs. Montgomery/Ho (PSU) 5-5 abd. 2. Schlukebir/Tran (IU) def. Wang/Perez (PSU) 8-4 3. Hsia/Field (IU) def. Whiteside/Merryman (PSU) 8-4 Singles 1. Pilar Montgomery (PSU) def. Kelly Blanch (IU) 6-2, 6-4 2. Rebecca Ho (PSU) def. Amanda Field (IU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 3. Linda Tran (IU) vs. Judy Wang (PSU) 7-6 (5) (PSU), 5-7 (IU), 2-0 (IU) abd. 4. Janelle Perez (PSU) def. Jessica Levin (IU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 5. Karie Schlukebir (IU) def. Kristen Nowicki (PSU) 6-2, 7-5 6. Leigh Ann Merryman (PSU) def. Martina Grimm (IU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
###ohiostatebuckeyes.com###
