Women’s Tennis Begins Fall Tournament Play – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 28, 2001
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State begins its quest for improvement and trophies this weekend in Philadelphia, Pa., at the Cissie Leary Invitational. The tournament is hosted by the University of Pennsylvania and runs from Sept. 28-30. The Buckeyes were scheduled to play in the Cornell Invitational held Sept. 14-16, but the event was cancelled because of the terrorist attacks Sept. 11.
The Field
The competition at the Cissie Leary is tremendous. Thirteen teams–six of which ended last season ranked–will participate in the event. The schools participating are: Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Lehigh, Old Dominion, Ohio State, Penn State, Princeton, Richmond, Seton Hall, Temple, Yale and host Penn. Seven individual players ranked in the Top 100 will be there as well as three doubles team ranked in the Top 50. The Buckeyes are well represented in the field. Monica Rincon is the third-highest ranked player participating at No. 57. She teams with Erica Fisk to form one of the three ranked doubles teams in the field. They are ranked No. 33 in the nation. Highlighting the draw is a singles and doubles team from Old Dominion. Nataly Cahana is ranked No. 4 in the nation and partners up with Ana Radeljevic to make the No. 28-ranked doubles team.
The Draw
In singles play, Rincon garnered the No. 3 seed and received a first round bye. Freshman Lindsay Bryan opens her collegiate career off against Nicole Cercane of Seton Hall. Michelle Matko makes her return to the courts after taking a medical redshirt last year with a first round matchup against Brown’s Victoria Beck. Meaghan Colville, a transfer from Western Michigan, makes her Buckeye debut against Leena Krisnaswamy of Columbia. Four Buckeye doubles teams are in the tournament. Rincon and Fisk are seeded second and received a first round bye. Bryan teams with fellow freshman Lindsey Adams to face off against Lehigh’s Rachel Samson and Erica Feinman. Matko joins Lindsay Williams to battle Kyli Lassalle and Cercane of Seton Hall. Sadhaf Pervez partners with Colville as the two face Richmond’s Jeannette Cluskey and Patty Devlin.
The Leader
Coach Chuck Merzbacher (Minnesota, ’87) returns for his sixth season at the helm. He has enjoyed much success since becoming the head man at OSU. He has compiled a 71-56 record. Under the guidance of “Coach Merz” the program has sent the team, a singles player and a doubles tandem to the NCAA Championships. In his tenure at OSU, Merzbacher has coached two All-Americans, a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, a Big Ten Freshman of the Year and two ITA Midwest Region Players to Watch.
National Champions
On Aug. 14, senior Monica Rincon and sophomore Erica Fisk were crowned national champions. The duo won the doubles final at the ITA National Summer Championships, 8-6, over North Carolina’s Kendall Cline and Texas Christian’s Saber Pierce. With the win Rincon and Fisk earned USTA gold balls and a wild card berth into the Oct. 11-14 All-American Championships.
Rincon Sizzles
On the summer circuit the only thing hotter than Rincon was Columbus’ sweltering temperatures. The senior not only won a USTA gold ball at the ITA National Summer Championships with Fisk, but also claimed victory at the U.S. National Amateur Hard Court Championships held at OSU’s Stickney Tennis Center. Rincon advanced to the final from the 64-player field after defeating Kentucky’s Amy Trefethen 6-2, 6-3. In the final Rincon defeated Illinois’ Jennifer McGaffigan, 6-4, 6-4, for the title. In the same event Rincon teamed with OSU men’s player B.J. Munroe to win the mixed doubles title. The sensational right-hander was not finished yet. She paired with teammate Claudia Castro to place second in the women’s doubles draw. The duo fell to UK’s Carolina Mayorga and Lauren Rookledge, 8-2.
Matko Back In Action
Michelle Matko is back for the Buckeyes for the 2001-02 season after taking a medical redshirt last year because of a knee injury. Before the injury Matko was 3-1 and is a much welcomed addition to a squad that lost two seniors-Kristy Dascoli and Laura Maloney-to graduation. For her career Matko is 50-24 and will bring leadership to a young team. She has two years of eligibility remaining.
In The Rankings
The preseason rankings are out and two Buckeyes–Rincon and Fisk–are listed among the best in the nation. Rincon ended last season ranked No. 83 and begins her senior campaign at No. 57. She teams up with Fisk to crack the Top 50 in doubles at No. 33. Rincon was a mainstay in the rankings last year, but this is the first time her contemporary, Fisk, has been honored as one of the best in the nation at the collegiate level.
Sitting On A Milestone
Two Buckeyes reached monumental plateaus in the win column last year and show no sign of easing up in the 2001-02 season. Rincon recorded her 75th career win last season in the Big Ten tournament with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Iowa’s Deni Alexandrova. Matko, who only played in four matches last season made all of them count as she notched her 50th career win with a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over Suzanne Bjorkman of Colorado Jan. 27.
Pervez At 51
In just two short years Sadhaf Pervez has 51 career wins. She turned in a stellar freshman season two years ago, going 27-14. Her 27 wins were the sixth most in school history. Last year Pervez totaled 24 wins to 15 losses.
Newcomers
Three new faces join the squad for the 2001-02 season. Freshmen Lindsay Bryan and Lindsey Adams join Western Michigan transfer Meaghan Colville as the newest members of the Buckeye family. Bryan was the 4A Louisiana State Champion for 2001. She was ranked No. 1 in the state and was No. 60 nationally. Adams finished third in the Washington State High School 3A Tournament after placing third as a junior. She claimed the 3A state doubles championship her freshman and sophomore years and has been ranked in the Top 5 in the Pacific Northwest for the last four years. Colville brings a tremendous amount of astaticism to the squad. The former hockey and soccer player finished the year at WMU ranked No. 3 in doubles in the Midwest Region and will give coach Merzbacher a lot more depth in the lineup.
Freshmen No More
Fisk and Williams have a year of collegiate tennis under their belts and now know what it takes to play a full season. If their freshman campaigns were any indication about how good these two can be than the Buckeyes will be right in the mix for a Big Ten title. Last year Fisk was one of four Buckeyes to record more than 20 wins. She posted a 23-18 mark and picked up a win in the NCAA tournament. Williams came on strong for OSU midway through the season. She ended the year with a record of 14-9 and was 5-3 in conference play. She missed the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments with a hip injury.
Recapping Last Season
OSU finished the 2000-01 season with a mark of 17-11 overall and 7-3 in the Big Ten. For the third consecutive year the Buckeyes advanced the team, a singles player and a doubles team to the NCAA Championships. OSU finished the season ranked No. 33. Senior Kristy Dascoli and junior Monica Rincon became the first All-Americans in program history after their stellar play at the NCAA singles and doubles championships. Twentieth ranked-Dascoli advanced to the quarterfinals in singles and then partnered with Rincon to advance to the quarterfinals in doubles. Both also were named All-Big Ten. Dascoli, two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, leaves as one of the greatest players ever to grace the courts in the conference. She is OSU’s all-time wins leader with 104 and set a program record for single-season wins last year with 31.
