Women’s tennis plays host to West Virgina, Penn State – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 25, 2002
%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio-After a successful opening weekend the Ohio State women’s tennis team (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) plays host to West Virginia at noon Saturday. The Buckeyes then kick off their Big Ten season at 10 a.m. Sunday when they play host to Penn State. Both matches will be contested at Jesse Owens West Recreation. Admission is free.%^$
%^$IN THE RANKINGS%^$The first team rankings of the year were released Jan. 8 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and the Buckeyes are No. 32. The squad finished last season with a No. 33 ranking after achieving a program-high ranking No. 19 earlier in the year.%^$
%^$MORE RANKINGS%^$The Buckeyes are well represented in the national rankings released Dec. 11. Monica Rincon earned a career-best ranking at No. 56, up one spot from No. 57. She ended last year ranked No. 83. In doubles, the tandem of Rincon and Erica Fisk, who never had played doubles with each other before the 2001summer circuit, garnered a No. 47 ranking. Official team rankings will be released Jan. 8, 2002.%^$
%^$REPRESENTED IN THE REGION%^$Four OSU players are ranked in the Midwest region rankings released Dec. 14. Rincon is ranked No. 5 followed by No. 8 Fisk. Sadhaf Pervez is No. 13. In doubles the duo of Rincon and Meaghan Colville is ranked No. 15. The tandem combined to go 2-0 in fall play.%^$
%^$THE LEADER%^$Coach Chuck Merzbacher returns for his sixth season at the helm. He has enjoyed much success since becoming the head man at OSU, compiling a 73-56 record. Under the guidance of Merzbacher the program has sent the team, a singles player and a doubles tandem to the NCAA Championships the past three years. 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.%^$
%^$SCOUTING OHIO STATE%^$With an exceptionally deep lineup the Buckeyes are capable of posting wins at any singles spot. Leading the way is All-American Monica Rincon. The senior is 83-41 for her career and with 17 more wins would become only the second Buckeye to reach the 100-win mark. Two other players-Michelle Matko and Sadhaf Pervez-have more than 50 wins in their career. In the fall coach Merzbacher used 12 different doubles combinations. Three of them competed in more than seven matches together, with two of the three posting five wins a piece.%^$
%^$LAST TIME OUT%^$No. 33 Ohio State (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) began its spring season with convincing 7-0 wins against Dayton and Akron. The Buckeye newcomers turned in a sound performance as OSU started the season off right. Freshmen Lindsay Bryan and Lindsey Adams each went 2-0 and transfer Meaghan Colville won both of her matches. Michelle Matko posted wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. At No. 1 she stopped Akron’s Irena Strembitsky, 2-6, 6-0, 6-4 after dropping Rebecca Stanchin, 6-2, 6-1, earlier in the day at No. 2. Lindsay Williams played strongly throughout the day never allowing an opponent to win more than two sets. In doubles the Buckeyes won all six matches by a combined score of 48-9. Sadhaf Pervez teamed with Colville to notch two wins at the No. 1 position and improved their team-best doubles record to 7-2. Williams and Matko improved to 7-3 on the year with wins at the No. 2 spot and Adams and Claudia Castro won their matches, 8-1, 8-2, at No. 3.%^$
%^$THE FALL SEASON%^$The Ohio State women’s tennis team concluded its fall season in November. As a team the Buckeyes played in three tournaments during the fall season. Their quest for personal achievement and trophies began at the Cissie Leary Invitational, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. From there the squad competed in the ITA Midwest Regional in Madison, Wis. before ending its season at the Midwest Blast Invitational in Champaign, Ill. Overall the Buckeyes finished 49-36 in singles play and 23-15 in doubles.%^$
%^$SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA%^$First-year coach Dan Silverstein leads West Virginia. He came to WVU after heading up the men and women’s teams at Southeastern Louisiana University. Anna Marie Underwood paces the Mountaineers on the court. The junior was the Flight A singles champion at the Martha Thorn Invitational in October. Underwood teamed with sophomore Courtney Howell to sweep the Flight A doubles competition at the same event.%^$
%^$WEST VIRGINIA-LAST TIME OUT%^$WVU last competed in October at the Martha Thorn Invitational. The Mountaineers took home singles championships in Flights A, B and C. A WVU tandem won the Flight A doubles championship.%^$
%^$SCOUTING PENN STATE%^$Coach Elizabeth “Buffy” Baker begins her third year at the helm of the Nittany Lions with a 27-20 record overall record as she has watched her team steadily improve the past two years. She guided the team from 8 wins in her first year to 15 last year. On the court, Rebecca Ho leads PSU. The senior was named women’s tennis athlete of the month last year and although she is 4-8 entering spring play she is still a dangerous force for the Lions.%^$
%^$PENN STATE-LAST TIME OUT%^$PSU last competed at the Tribe Classic hosted by the College of William & Mary. Sophomore Leigh Ann Merryman went undefeated in Flight 4, winning two three-set matches and Judy Wang was undefeated in doubles competition.%^$
%^$FANTASTTIC FALL FOR FISK%^$For three days in September, sophomore Erica Fisk was nearly unstoppable. The Indianapolis, Ind., native posted a 5-1 singles record over the three days at the Cissie Leary Invitational, winning three three-set matches. Twice she battled from a set down to claim victory and in the semifinals she upset Old Dominion’s 90th-ranked Lara Van Rooyen, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3. In the finals, the unranked Fisk fell to No. 4 Nataly Cahana of ODU, 6-2, 6-0. Fisk’s success was not limited to the singles bracket. She partnered with Monica Rincon to advance to the finals in the doubles draw. The duo received a first-round bye and stormed through three rounds for a spot in the final. The Buckeye tandem-ranked No. 33-fell to the No. 28 team of Cahana and Ana Radeljevic of ODU, 8-6.%^$
%^$CLIMBING THE CHARTS%^$Monica Rincon’s 83 career wins place her second on OSU’s all-time singles wins list. Oct. 28 at the ITA Midwest Regional Tournament, Rincon picked up her 81st and 82nd career win, catapulting her ahead of Maria Olazagatsti (1977-79, 81-20) into second place. OSU’s all-time singles wins leader is Kristy Dascoli, who finished her career (1998-01) with 104 wins.%^$
%^$MATKO BACK IN ACTION%^$Michelle Matko is back for the Buckeyes for the 2001-02 season after taking a medical redshirt last year because of a knee injury. She is a perfect 2-0 this year after registering wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots against Akron and Dayton. Before the injury Matko was 3-1 and is a much welcomed addition to the young squad. For her career Matko is 57-28 and will bring leadership to a young team. In fall tournaments the Aurora, Ill. native went 5-4. She has a year of eligibility remaining after this season.%^$
%^$ALL-AMERICAN TOURNAMENT%^$With an 8-6 win against North Carolina’s Kendall Cline and Texas Christian’s Saber Pierce on Aug. 14 in the doubles final at the ITA National Summer Championships, Monica Rincon and Erica Fisk qualified for the All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif. The mid-October tournament was loaded with the best doubles teams in the nation. The Buckeye duo went 0-2, but gained valuable experience that will help them during the regular season. In the first round, Rincon and Fisk fell to 16th-ranked Lauren Barnikow and Erin Burdette of Stanford, 8-5. In the consolation round, the No. 10 duo of Carolina Mayorga and Sarah Witten of Kentucky defeated Rincon and Fisk, 9-7.%^$
%^$HOME COOKING%^$The Buckeyes defend their home turf well. They are off to a perfect 2-0 start this year continuing their success at home. Last year the squad was 7-3 when playing at home and was a perfect 11-0 in 1999-00. Since the 1999-00 season OSU is 20-3 when playing in Columbus.%^$
%^$BRING ‘EM ON%^$In the 12 fall tournament matches senior Monica Rincon played in, she lined up across the net with a ranked player seven times. In those matches she posted a 3-4 record while compiling an overall mark of 7-5.%^$
%^$UPSET CITY%^$Unranked Buckeyes Sadhaf Pervez and Erica Fisk pulled off impressive upsets in fall play. Pervez stunned No. 33 Kavitha Krishnamurthy of Princeton, 6-3, 6-4, in the third round of the Cissie Leary Invitational. Fisk downed 70th-ranked Illinois sophomore Jennifer McGaffigan, 7-6, 6-4, at the ITA Midwest Regional tournament. McGaffigan was the 2001 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Fisk also upset No. 90 Lara Van Rooyen of Old Dominion, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3. Fisk also defeated Penn’s Alice Pirsu, 7-6, 4-6, 6-0, in the Cissie Leary Invitational. Pirsu was unranked at the time, but after going 17-6 in the fall she is ranked No. 24.%^$
%^$FIRST WINS%^$Three players picked up their first collegiate wins as a Buckeye during fall tournament play. Sophomore Meaghan Colville, a transfer from Western Michigan, won her first match as a member of the Buckeye family dropping Leena Krisnaswamy of Columbia, 6-1, 6-4, at the Cissie Leary Invitational. Freshmen Lindsay Bryan and Lindsey Adams won their first collegiate matches at the Cissie Leary. Bryan, of New Orleans, La., defeated Seton Hall’s Nicole Cercone, 6-2, 7-6 and Mercer Island, Wash., native Adams, topped Linda Leibfarth of Penn, 6-2, 7-6.%^$
%^$MATKO AND WILLIAMS%^$Perhaps the most steady doubles team during the fall was the duo of Michelle Matko and Lindsay Williams. The two competed in all three tournaments together and recorded an overall record of 5-3. They outscored their opponents a combined 55-44 and one of their losses came to fellow teammates Monica Rincon and Erica Fisk.%^$
%^$LET’S PLAY THREE%^$In singles play combined the Buckeyes have played 18 three-set matches. Their overall record is 10-8. Erica Fisk leads the charge with a 5-1 record in matches that go three sets. Michelle Matko follows with a 3-1 mark. Monica Rincon is next with a steady 2-2 record. Lindsay Bryan is 0-1 when an extra stanza is needed and Lindsay Williams is 0-3.%^$
%^$A WINNING MARK%^$Six of the nine Buckeyes that competed in the fall posted winning records. Erica Fisk was the only Buckeye to garner double-digit wins as she finished the fall with a 10-4 mark. Monica Rincon went 7-5 and Sadhaf Pervez was 6-3. Lindsey Adams finished 6-4, Michelle Matko was 5-4 and Claudia Castro was 2-1.%^$
%^$BOWEN TO REDSHIRT%^$Junior Taryn Bowen will be redshirted this year and not compete. She has competed the past two years and has an overall record of 12-22. She will have two years of eligibility remaining.%^$
%^$RECAPPING LAST SEASON%^$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.%^$
%^$NEXT UP FOR THE BUCKEYES%^$OSU opens February with two home matches. The Buckeyes play host to Virginia Tech at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 1. OSU then plays at 10 a.m. against Marquette Feb. 3. Both matches will be contested at Jesse Owens West recreation Center. Admission is free.%^$
%^$SPRING SCHEDULE%^$Once again, OSU faces a daunting schedule in the spring season. Outside the always competitive Big Ten schedule the Buckeyes travel to face national powers Kentucky and Notre Dame. The Buckeyes still have to play instate rivals Cincinnati and Bowling Green. OSU is 2-0 against schools from the Buckeye state defeating both Dayton and Akron, 7-0, to start the season.%^$
%^$BUCKEYES ONLINE%^$Learn more about women’s tennis and OSU’s 34 other varsity sports at the athletic department’s official Web site, ohiostatebuckeyes.com
