Women’s Tennis Opens NCAA Championship vs. Virginia – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 7, 2003
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team will continue post season play with the 2003 NCAA Tournament vs. Virginia at 10 a.m. Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn. Host and No. 8-ranked Tennessee (20-6) will face Murray State (16-10) in the other opening round matchup. The winners of the first-round matches will meet at 1 p.m. Sunday for a spot in the Round of 16.
The Buckeyes were one of 33 teams to earn an at-large berth into the 64-team national tournament. The squad is 1-5 all-time in NCAA play, with its win coming over Miami (Fla.) in 2000. Ohio State also competed in Knoxville in the first round last season, where it fell to Alabama, 4-0.
A QUICK LOOK AT OSU
Ohio State finished the regular season with a 12-11 record and a 6-4 Big Ten tally. The Buckeyes have kept it close all season with 16 matches decided by a 4-3 score and Ohio State claiming victory in half of them. The Buckeyes found success in pairs as they clinched the doubles point and took the 1-0 lead in every match except four. Ohio State played 17 matches vs. ranked opponents but came out 6-11 vs. the nation’s best.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA
The Cavaliers are ranked No. 34 in the nation and are making their seventh appearance in the NCAA tournament, this year as a one of the 33 at-large berths. Virginia is coming off a strong showing in the ACC tournament where the Cavaliers defeated No. 22 Georgia Tech, 4-3, in the quarters but fell to No. 3 Duke, 4-0, in semifinal match. Virginia was 15-19 over the regular season including a 4-4 mark in conference action and a 7-9 record vs. ranked opponents.
Henriette Williams plays No. 1 singles for Virginia and has compiled a 9-16 mark at the lead spot and a 15-17 overall record. The No. 100-ranked Williams only has defeated three of the 19 ranked opponents she has faced but she downed No. 15 Daria Panova of Oregon, 6-7, 6-3, 10-1.
Jennifer Tuchband occupies the No. 2 spot for the Cavaliers and has posted a 27-9 overall record, 17-6 in dual matches. An All-ACC honoree, she currently is ranked No. 70 in the nation and has faced 12 ranked opponents, defeating. Earlier this season, she twice was named the ACC Player-of-the-Week.
Phil Rogers, in his 21st season as the Virginia head coach, has the longest tenure among women’s tennis coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference and is the third-winningest coach in ACC history. Over the past 20 seasons, the Cavaliers have won 227 dual matches, over 87 percent of the school’s all-time win total. Rogers has guided the Cavaliers to 59 ACC wins, fourth-most in league history. This will mark the seventh time Rogers has led the Cavaliers to the NCAA tournament.
Ohio State and Virginia have met twice, splitting the series at 1-1. The last meeting was a 5-4 Buckeye victory Jan. 31, 1997, in Richmond, Va.
NEXT UP: TENNESSEE or MURRAY STATE
No. 8-rated Tennessee received the No. 7 seed in this NCAA tournament with a 20-6 mark and a 9-2 showing in the SEC, which placed second. The Orange and White are making their ninth consecutive appearance in the tournament and their 13th overall. The Lady Vols have reached at least the Sweet 16 six-consecutive years. Last season, the Lady Vols made program history by advancing to their first Final Four.
Tennessee’s greatest asset is the No. 1 ranked Vilmarie Castellvi who is 39-4 on the season and has only dropped one match at the No. 1 position, a 6-4, 6-2, loss to No. 9 Cristelle Grier of Northwestern. Of Castellvi’s 44 matches, 33 have been vs. ranked opponents. She has topped rivals who are currently ranked Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in the nation. Castellvi also is Tennessee’s all-time leader in singles wins with 134.
Mike Patrick, now in his 16th season at the helm of the Lady Vols program, has guided UT to every NCAA appearance in school history and owns a 17-12 mark in postseason play. Patrick is assisted by his wife and fellow co-head coach Sonia Hahn-Patrick.
Tennessee has the 6-2 advantage in the series record. The last time the teams met, the Lady Vols defeated Ohio State, 5-2, March 21, 2001, in Knoxville, Tenn.
MURRAY STATE
For the third year in a row, Murray State won the Ohio Valley Conference and was awarded an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The racers were 11-10 on the season and played only one ranked opponent, which resulted in a 7-0 loss to Kentucky in the first match of the season. Connie Keasling enters the 11th season in her second stint as head coach of Murray State, her 14th overall at Murray State and caries a 191-121 record, which is second in MSU history. Murray State and Ohio State have never met before.
PERVEZ EARNS ALL-BIG TEN HONORS
Ohio State senior Sadhaf Pervez (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) was named to the 2003 Women’s Tennis All-Big Ten Team. Pervez was one of 12 student-athletes and the solo Buckeye to be added to the list of the conference’s best players.
