Women’s Tennis Looks To Rebound as it Plays Host to No. 15 Kentucky – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 8, 2003
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team will host No. 15 Kentucky Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at the Stickney Tennis Center. No. 47 Ohio State is tied for fourth in the Big Ten standings with a record of 4-2 in the conference and is 10-7 overall.
BIG TEN IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The No. 47 Buckeyes are the fifth Big Ten team to appear in the April 2 Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings administered by the ITA with Northwestern at No. 17, Illinois at No. 24, Minnesota at No. 31 and Michigan at No. 38.
SCOUTING KENTUCKY
Kentucky is 18-6 on the season and 8-2 in SEC play. The Wildcats are in a three-way tie for second place in th Southeastern Coference with Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Kentucky have won seven of their last eight matches with six of their seven wins coming against ranked opponents. Kentucky has topped No. 9 Abilene Christian University, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 13 North Carolina, and No. 17 Northwestern during the dual season. All six losses on the season have been by the hands of ranked opponents including No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Georgia and No. 16 William and Mary.
TOP WILDCATS
At No. 1 singles for the Wildcats is No. 49 junior Sarah Witten. Witten is 23-12 on the season in singles play and 29-8 in doubles matches. She is on a seven match unbeaten streak in singles play and all 12 of her losses have come against ranked opponents. Seven of her twenty three victories have come vs. ranked opponents including No. 25 Lacy Johnson fromAbilene Christian University and No. 39 Sara Arusu fom Duke. Freshman Nathalie Roels currently is No. 101 in the rankings and has played at the No. 2 spot in the Kentukcy lineup for the majority of the season. Roels is 29-13 in singles play and 31-9 in doubles. Roels is on a seven-match win streak including a victory over No. 22 Lindsay Dawaf of Florida.
PURDUE HEAD COACH GUILBEAU
Head coach Mark Guilbeau is in his seventh season at the helm of the women’s tennis team at Kentuky University. Guilbeau has a career coaching record of 104-69.
OSU VS. KENTUCKY
The Wildcats have a 7-4 advantage over the Buckeyes all-time. Kentucky has won the last three meetings against Ohio State. The Buckeyes last victory against the Wildcats was March 13th, 1999, as the Buckeyes won the match 5-4.
NEXT UP
The Buckeyes face Wisconsin at 10 a.m. Saturday April 12 and No. 17 Northwestern at 11 a.m. Sunday April 13. The matches will be held at Stickney Tennis Centers except in the case of inclement weather where the games will move indoors to Jesse Owens West Recreational Center.
DECAMILLA AND BRYAN DONUGHTS
After sweeping the doubles point vs. Indiana, Ohio State picked up two quick points at Nos. 5 and 6 as sophomores Emily DeCamilla and Lindsay Bryan posted 6-0, 6-0, victories over Jessica Groth and Sophie Rychlik, respectivitly.
WHAT’S THE SCORE? 4-3
So far this season, Ohio State has had 11 matches finish with a 4-3 score. The Buckeyes are 7-4 when the match is decided by one point.
STARTING WELL WITH DOUBLES
The Buckeyes have started every dual match except three this season 1-0 by winning at least two-of-three doubles matches. Five times so far the Buckeyes have swept all three doubles matches, which has played a large role in the Buckeyes winning seven-of-eleven 4-3 matches.
FISK AND LESKOVER MESH WELL
Erica Fisk and Jackie Leskovar carry a doubles record of 15-6 including an 11-5 mark at No. 2 and a 1-0 stint at No. 1. Ohio State is 9-3 when the two record a doubles victory. Feb. 14-22 Fisk and Leskovar won four-consecutive matches. The duo carries a 5-1 record vs. Big Ten opponents. They competed together last fall in the Oct. 4-5 Hoosier Classic, which sported a hidden dual format. The tandem played at the No. 1 position and sported a 3-1 record against Big 12 teams over the weekend.
STRONG AT THE TOP
Ohio State has compiled a 29-5 record at the No. 1 singles and doubles. Sadhaf Pervez is 16-1 is at No. 1 singles and the duo of Lindsay Williams and Pervez is 12-4 at No. 1 doubles. Erica Fisk and Jackie Leskovar teamed up to add a win at No. 1 doubles.
SADHAF HOLDING STRONG AT NO. 1
No. 38 Sadhaf Pervez is 16-1 at the No. 1 spot this season. Her 16-match win streak was snapped vs. No. 66 Jennifer McGaffigan in a hard-fought, back-and-forth battle. She has recorded victories over No. 33 No. 33 Caylan Leslie of Notre Dame, 7-5, 6-2, No. 45 Vida Mulec of Baylor, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, and No. 99 Michelle DaCosta of Michigan, 7-5, 7-6. Including fall tournament play, Pervez is 25-6 on the season.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Ohio State will spend most of the 2002 season on the road. Of its 22 dual matches, 15 of them will be away. The squad compiled a 21-4 record at home over the last two years. This season Ohio State is 7-6 on the road.
DeCAMILLA VICTORIOUS IN GAME-WINNING MATCH AT PENN STATE
Sophomore transfer Emily DeCamilla recorded her first-career Big Ten victory as a Buckeye in the game-winning match at Penn State against Lindsay Dowing, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6(0).
DeCamilla struck first by prevailing in a first-set tiebreaker, but Downing answered back by controlling the second set. DeCamilla jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the final set and then held serve to go up 5-2 over Downing, but the Lady Lion freshman won the next four games to stay alive. DeCamilla regained her composure and broke Downing’s serve to send the match into a tiebreaker, in which she triumphed for the Buckeyes, winning, 7-0.
