Women’s Tennis Closes Regular Season – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 16, 2003
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team will close out the regular season on the road this weekend vs. Big Ten foes Minnesota and Iowa. The Buckeyes will travel to Minneapolis, Min., to face the Gophers at 10 a.m. Saturday and Iowa City, Iowa, to play the Hawkeyes at 10 a.m. Sunday. Minnesota leads the league with a 7-1 mark, with Ohio State and Northwestern tied for second at 6-2, so a two-win weekend will place the Buckeyes (12-8) in a tie for first place in the Big Ten.
BIG TEN IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The No. 43 Buckeyes are the fifth Big Ten team to appear in the April 14 Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings administered by the ITA with Northwestern at No. 23, Illinois at No.26, Minnesota at No. 31 Michigan at No. 40 and Purdue at No. 45.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
The Golden Gophers sit alone at the top of the Big Ten standings with a conference record of 7-1 and an overall record of 14-5. Minnesota has recorded wins over No. 18 Harvard and No. 23 Northwestern but has fallen to No. 20 Alabama and No. 22 Georgia Tech. The Gophers’ solo Big Ten loss vs. No. 26 Illinois, 4-3. Minnesota is 6-2 at home.
TOP GOPHERS
Junior Angela Buergis plays No. 1 singles for Minnesota and is 11-5 at the lead position and 20-12 overall. Buergis is 4-4 vs. ranked opponents including victories over No. 69 Jennifer McGaffigan of Illinois and No. 101 Susanna Lingman of Harvard. Valerie Vladea began the season with a six-match win streak before settling down at No. 2 singles. From there she is 7-8 at the second spot and 4-4 in Big Ten action.
MINNESOTA COACH
Tyler Thomson is entering his second season with the Golden Gophers. Before Minnesota, Thomson was an assistant coach at William& Mary where he assisted in three NCAA team tournament berths in 1998, 1999 and 2000, including a quarterfinal finish in 1998. Thomson coached three All-Americans, six ITA Scholar-Athlete All-Americans and 10 ITA nationally ranked players.
OSU VS. MINNESOTA
The Buckeyes have only defeated the Golden Gophers eight times in 31 meetings. One of those victories came in the last meeting between the teams, which took place Feb. 24, 2002, where the Buckeyes won 2-of-3 doubles matches and 4-of-6 singles matches to post a 5-2 win on the road.
SCOUTING IOWA
The Hawkeyes are coming off a Big Ten road victory over Indiana, 4-3, but are 3-5 in conference action and 5-12 in overall dual play. Iowa downed No. 45 Purdue, 4-3, and Michigan State, 5-2, to round out its three Big Ten victories. The Hawkeyes are 2-7 at home and will face Penn State before Ohio State.
TOP HAWKEYES
Junior Cassie Haas has occupied No. 1 singles all season for Iowa and is 6-11 from the lead spot and 15-16 including fall tournament play. Hass is 1-7 vs. ranked opponents with her only victory against Georgia Tech’s No. 51 Jaime Wong.
IOWA COACH
Paul Wardlaw is in his fifth season as head coach at Iowa. Wardlaw has compiled a 53-42 record and holds the highest winning percentage in school history (.570). Under his direction, the Hawkeyes have reached the NCAA tournament the past three seasons.
OSU VS. IOWA
Iowa leads the all-time series with 16 wins in 27 meetings. Ohio State won the last meeting, 5-2, March 17, 2002, in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes clinched the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles and won singles matches at Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 to complete the win.
NEXT UP
Ohio State will enter post season play in the Big Ten tournament April 24-27 in Champaign, Ill. The Buckeyes will determine thier seed this weekend as the finish off Big Ten play on the road.
BRING OUT THE BROOM
Ohio State compiled its first singles sweep of the seaon vs. Wisconsin April 12 in a 6-1 victory. The Buckeyes began the match down one after allowing the Badgers to run all doubles matches and take the 1-0 lead.
LESKOVAR POSTS SOILD PLAY
Jackie Leskovar was 3-0 over the three-match homestand vs. No. 14 Kentucky, Wisconsin and No. 19 Northwestern at No. 3 singles and was 2-1 at No. 2 doubles. Leskovar improved her Big Ten record to 6-2 by posting two conference victories including a clutch three-set win over Northwestern’s Piesel, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in a 4-3 Buckeye upset over the Wildcats.
NOS. 5 & 6 ADD BIG TEN WINS
Ohio State enjoyed winning at both No. 5 and No. 6 over Wisconsin and Northwestern last weekend as Emily DeCamilla and Lindsay Bryan combined for four Big Ten victories. The wins came at the right time as Ohio State defeated top-ranked Big Ten foe No. 23 Northwestern, 4-3.
