Ohio State Takes to Road for First Time in Spring – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 27, 2004
Columbus, Ohio – Ohio State opens the road part of the 2004 schedule Sunday with a trip to South Bend, Ind., to take on the No. 21 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
Scouting Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish are lead by head coach Jay Louderback, in his 14th year out of Wichita State. Louderback’s teams have won 14 conference championships, received 10 NCAA championship berths, and finished in the national Top 30 11 consecutive years.
The 2004 version of the Fighting Irish boasts two nationally ranked singles players, No. 14 Alicia Salas and No. 88 Christian Thompson, and the doubles team of Salas and Lauren Connelly come in ranked No. 39.
The match Sunday will be Notre Dame’s second of the season, following their opener against the University of Michigan Thursday.
Recapping Tennessee
Ohio State got off to a positive start in its first dual match of the spring, taking two of three doubles matches, but ultimately lost, 4-3, to the No. 10-ranked Tennessee Volunteers Sunday at the Jesse Owens West Recreational Center in Columbus, Ohio.
The Buckeyes got a pair of come-from-behind tie-break victories to clinch the doubles point. Seniors Lindsay Williams (Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Groves) and Meaghan Colville (Toronto, Ontario/Western Michigan) overcame a 4-7 deficit to defeat Volunteers Sabita Maharaj and Ashley Robards, 9-8, before watching fellow seniors Erica Fisk (Indianapolis, Ind./ Pike) and Jackie Leskovar (Cambridge, Ontario/ N.C. State) knock off No. 50 ranked Tammy Encina and Majen Immink, 9-8 (3).
In singles, Williams came back to upset No. 13 ranked Encina in the No. 1 spot in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, and freshman Kristin Messmer (Lutherville, Md./ McDonogh) beat Vicky Jones in two sets, 6-2, 7-5. Renewing Acquaintances
Each team competing Saturday boasts a highly decorated first-year assistant coach. For the Buckeyes, Kristy Dascoli has returned to her alma mater, as has Michelle Dasso at Notre Dame. Both players finished their careers as the all-time leader in career singles victories for their respective schools, and this will not be the first meeting between the two. The two faced-off in the quarterfinals of the 2001 NCAA championships, with Dasso moving on with a three-set victory, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. In doubles competition, however, Dascoli was victorious, teaming with Monica Rincon to defeat Dasso and Becky Varnum in the second round, 6-0, 6-4.
Early Upsets
After just one dual match, three Buckeyes already own victories over ranked opponents.
In singles, Lindsay Williams knocked off No. 13 Tammy Encina of Tennessee, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, while senior duo Erica Fisk (Indianapolis, Ind./ Pike) and Jackie Leskovar (Cambridge, Ontario/ N.C. State) knocked off No. 50 team Encina and Majen Immink, 9-8 (3) in doubles.
Climbing the Charts
Despite battling injuries, senior Erica Fisk (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) picked up seven victories during the fall season, giving her 69 for her career. That total is good enough to move her to No. 7 in all-time wins at Ohio State, ahead of Leann Grimes (1975-78) and behind Michelle Matko (1998-2003).
Buckeyes in Early Rankings
Two Buckeyes, Fisk and senior Jackie Leskovar (Toronto, Ontario/N.C. State) enter the 2004 season ranked.
In the Midwest regional rankings released Dec. 4, Leskovar is No. 28 while Fisk holds down the No. 30 spot.
Wasting No Time
Three Buckeyes saw their first collegiate singles action during the fall season at the St. Mary’s Classic Sept. 19-21 in Knoxville, Tenn., in the fall. Kristin Messmer (fr., Lutherville, Md./McDonogh) and Sonia Ruzimovsky (fr., Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Tech) 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 Academy) suffered defeat in her initial collegiate match but out-dueled North Carolina State’s Virginia Romero in her second.
Messmer ended the fall season with eight singles victories, most on the team.
Wrapping Up Autumn
The Buckeyes enjoyed a competitive fall season, appearing in five tournaments around the Midwest. The Buckeyes competed in the St. Mary’s Fall Classic, the Cissie Leary Invitational, the Kentucky Fall Classic and the Fall Desert Collegiate Classic and had eight student-athletes qualify for the ITA Midwest Regional in either singles, doubles or both.
Buckeyes Welcome Dascoli
Former Ohio State women’s tennis stand out Kristy Dascoli (1999-2001) has been named assistant coach for the squad, head coach Chuck Merzbacher announced Tuesday.
OSU’s all-time singles wins leader with 104, Dascoli was named Ohio State’s Player of the Century for women’s tennis and is one of the best players ever to play in the Big Ten. Dascoli was the first OSU player to be named an All-American in singles competition. She was honored as the Big Ten Player of the Year following both the 2000 and 2001 seasons and is the only player in conference history to win the award outright in back-to-back seasons. Dascoli was the Big Ten Player of the Month three times (April 1999, April 2000 and March ’01) and posted an incredible 35-4 Big Ten regular season record in her four years at OSU. In 2001, she set a program record by winning 31 overall singles matches. In addition, Dascoli played No. 1 singles her entire career, qualified for the NCAA singles championships in each of her four years and was named All-Big Ten four consecutive years. In doubles, she was a four-time NCAA championship participant and was All-American in 2001.
Since graduating with a degree in psychology, Dascoli has played professionally and has wins over several women ranked in the Top 200. She still plays professionally and now is in graduate school working on her master’s degree in human development and family science.
Recruiting Update
Caitlin O’Keefe, a senior at Troy High School in Troy, Mich., and Silvia Prajescu of Canada signed NCAA National Letters of Intent join the Buckeyes tennis team for the 2004 fall season.
O’Keefe recently won her third consecutive Division I state singles championship while leading her team to its first state team title. For her career, O’Keefe was undefeated in conference play and sported an overall high school record of 136-2. She enjoyed undefeated seasons during both her junior and senior years. She also was an all-state selection four times and an All-American three times. Along with her success on the court, O’Keefe was an Academic All-American in 2003 and received the 2003 Hoxie Award, given by the Southeast Michigan Tennis Association board of directors for the high school athlete who best demonstrates sportsmanship and contributes to the game of tennis in a positive way.
Prajescu was ranked No. 5 in Canada for Under-16 in 2002 and finished in the Top 10 at the Under-16 Singles National Indoor Championships. She advanced to the semifinals in doubles of the same tournament. In 2001 she was ranked among the Top 8 in singles at the Under-16 Outdoor National Championships and advanced to the quarterfinals in doubles.
Schedule to be challenging
The Buckeyes’ match with the Volunteers was 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.
Next Up
Ohio State returns home at 11 a.m. Feb. 15 to face Big Ten foe Penn State at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center.
