Women’s Tennis to Compete in Kentucky Fall Invitational – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 1, 2003
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Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team continues fall tournament play by heading south to Lexington, Ky., for the Kentucky Fall Invitational. The tournament is hosted by the University of Kentucky and will take place Friday through Sunday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
Kentucky Competitors
Eight teams will be competiing in Lexington. Among those joining the Buckeyes are fellow Big Ten member Purdue and Midwestern regional foe Notre Dame. William & Mary, Marshall, Middle Tennessee State and Abilene Christian round out the field. The tournament consists of four singles brackets and two doubles brackets, with play beginning at approximately 9 a.m. each day.
A Philadelphia Feeling
In their last time out, Ohio State traveled to Philadelphia, Pa., for the Cissie Leary Invitational and several Buckeyes enjoyed success. In her first action of the fall, Erica Fisk (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) compiled a record of 4-1 in both the main draw and consolation play. Senior Jackie Leskovar (Cambridge, Ontario/N.C. State) advanced to the round of 16 in the main singles draw before falling to No. 12 Alice Pirsu of Pennsylvania. Other Buckeyes to win first-round matches were Kristin Messmer (Fr., Lutherville, Md./McDonogh), Lindsay Williams (Sr., Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Grove) and Sonia Ruzimovsky (Fr., Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Tech). In doubles, the team of Fisk and Leskovar won two matches and advanced to the round of eight before being beaten by No. 1 seed and No. 23 ranked tandem of Courtney Bergman and Susanna Lingman of Harvard. Two other Buckeye duos, Williams and Ruzimovsky and Meredith Vincent (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio/Virginia Tech) and Messmer, won first-round matches but were defeated in the round of sixteen.
Starting Strong
Ohio State’s first tournament of the year, the St. Mary’s Fall Classic, included two flight titles. In singles, Lindsay Adams (Jr., Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) was 3-0 for the weekend. On her way to winning Flight Seven, Adams defeated Seva Iwinski of Texas A&M, Erin Cohn of host Tennessee and Tanya Markovic of North Carolina. In doubles, the tandem of senior Lindsay Williams and freshman Sonia Ruzimovsky were winners of Flight Two. After narrowly defeating Wake Forest’s Danielle Schwartz and Alexandra Hirsch in the opening round of the tournament (9-7), the OSU duo topped Roberta Spencer and Lauren Walker of Texas A&M in the second and beat Sara Anudsen and Caitlin Collins of North Carolina to claim the flight title.
Wasting No Time
Three Buckeyes saw their first collegiate singles action at the St. Mary’s Classic in Knoxville earlier this fall. Kristin Messmer and Sonia Ruzimovsky each won their first match by defeating Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. Ruzimovsky topped Elizabeth Proctor, while Messmer dispatched Sandie Knight and went on to finish third in her flight. Ohio State’s third freshman, Anna Volberg (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) suffered defeat in her initial collegiate match but won her second, out-dueling North Carolina State’s Virginia Romero.
Summer Success on the Court
Buckeye senior Erica Fisk enjoyed a winning summer. In July, she traveled to Bloomington, Ind. and brought home the singles title from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Collegiate Summer Circuit Midwest Regional tournament. In the tournament, which Indiana University played host to, Fisk defeated Christine Buretz of Connecticut, Stephanie Malak of Emory, Kristina Stastny of Notre Dame, Dora Vastag of Indiana University and Linda Tran, also of Indiana, to take the championship. She needed a third-set super tiebreaker to win each of the final three matches.
Summer Success in the Classroom
Fisk’s accolades were not all won on the tennis court. She also was named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar Athlete. Fisk, who is a senior, won the award by winning a varsity letter while maintaining a grade point average above 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale). A marketing major, she also has twice been recognized as Academic All-Big Ten and is a three-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete.
Climbing the Charts
Entering her senior year, Meaghan Colville owned a career doubles record of 75-36. That mark was already good enough for 10th best in school history and a strong year could see her move into the Top 5. Thus far this fall, Colville has picked up two victories, moving her into a tie with Susan Mitchell (1987-90) for eighth place. Kelly Story’s (1989-92) record of 118 wins seems safe, however, as Colville is unlikely to play in 41 more matches this season.
No Place Like Home
This season head coach Chuck Merzbacher welcomes to his team junior Meredith Vincent. A native of Cincinnati, Vincent saw her first action as a Buckeye this fall at the St. Mary’s Fall Classic after spending two years at Virginia Tech. While competing for the Hokies Vincent compiled a record of 24-27 playing often in the No. 2 or No. 3 position in the lineup.
Schedule to be Challenging
Though they started the fall season on Tennessee’s home court in Knoxville, the Buckeyes will begin the 2004 regular season by playing host to the Lady Vols in Columbus. That match will be the first of 10 the Buckeyes will play this season against 2003 NCAA championship qualifiers. Other non-conference foes of note are Notre Dame, William and Mary, UNLV and Kentucky. Additionally, the coaches expect the Big Ten, which is traditionally known for having quality tennis play, to be unusually strong this year. Purdue, Northwestern, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana all are coming off of NCAA appearances and are primed to provide big challenges to all foes.
Recapping Last Season
Ohio State had a final 2003 record of 12-12. Its 6-4 Big Ten record was good enough to tie for 4th place in the conference. A majority of the matches were close, as 16 were decided by a score of 4-3. In those matches, the Buckeyes managed a record of 8-8. Doubles was a source of strength, as the team won the doubles point in all but five matches for the year. The season ended with an at-large berth in the NCAA Championship, the fifth consecutive NCAA appearance for the school, and a first round loss to Virginia.
Next Up
Ohio State will compete in the ITA Midwest Regional tournament in Kalamazoo, Mich., Octorber 23-28.
