Ohio State to Face Nation’s Top-Ranked Individauls at Cissie Leary Memorial Invitational – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 26, 2002
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team will travel to Philadelphia to compete in the Cissie Leary Invitational Firday-Sunday. The University of Pennsylvania will play host to the event for the sixth year in a row. Fourteen schools and 15 of the nation’s top-ranked players will compete in the tournament.
RANKED PLAYERS TO COMPETE FOR BUCKEYES
Ohio State has two players nationally ranked, No. 69 Erica Fisk (Jr./Indianapolis, Ind) and No. 89 Sadhaf Pervez (Sr./Warren, N.J.). All other ranked players scheduled to compete are listed on the next page.
TOP 25 PLAYERS TO COMPETE
No. 11 Nataly Cahana (Jr., Old Dominion), and No. 14 Alice Pirsu (Soph., Penn) will top the list of singles participants. The two met last week at the William and Marry Invitational where Pirsu upset the top-seeded Cahana in the finals. Texas A&M’s duo of junior Jessica Roland and senior Ashley Hedberg is No. 12 in the doubles rankings.
PERVEZ HAS OUTSTANDING SUMMER
Ohio State senior Sadhaf Pervez claimed the singles title at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Summer Championships. Over the duration of the summer, she reached at least the semifinals in three tournaments and was named the 2002 ITA Female Summer Circuit Player of Year. BUCKEYES REWRITING RECORD BOOKS
Michelle Matko (Sr./Aurora, Ill.) and Pervez bothe are in the Top 10 for career wins in the Ohio State record books. Pervez currently is fifth with 75 wins and Matko is close behind with 71 wins. The program record is 104 wins held by Kristy Dascoli (1998-01) and the next milestone (No.4) is set at 78 wins.
MERZBACHER LOOKS TO TAKE PROGRAM TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Chuck Merzbacher, in his sixth season at Ohio State, continues to work on his goal of being a powerhouse in the Big Ten and recognizable force on the national level. He looks to continue improvements made to the women’s tennis program which has finished third in the Big Ten for three straight seasons and has earned four- straight berths to the NCAA tournament. Over the last six years at OSU, Merzbacher has complied a 90-64 record.
2001-02 SEASON RECAP
Once again, the Ohio State women’s tennis team (19-7 overall, 7-3 Big Ten) closed its season in the NCAA championships. They fell in the first round to Alabama. The team now has competed in the tournament for the past four years and has sent a Buckeye to the individual championships for the past five years. The Buckeyes posted a program-record 19 wins and finished their season ranked No. 42 nationally and No. 5 in the region.
NEXT UP FOR THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State will travel to Bloomington, Ind. to participate in the Indiana University Fall Tournament Oct. 4-6. Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Indiana and Ohio State will all compete in the weekend tournament. All singles will be guaranteed three matches and doubles four or five.
BUCKEYES FARE WELL AT PRINCE CUP
Ohio State advanced seven out of nine Buckeyes to the Round of 32 and three to the quarterfinals in the open draw tournament last week. Taryn Bowen (Sr./Jr., Columbus, Ohio) won her first three matches of the season to reach the quarterfinals. Sadhaf Perves defeated teammate Bowen to join Erica Fisk in the semifinals. Pervez was defeated by Lisa D’Amelio, who won the tournament in the next round. Fisk was upset by Alicia Salas of Notre Dame. Fisk and Pervez teamed up and reached the quarterfinals in the doubles main draw.
