Ohio State Women’s Tennis Wraps Up Road Schedule – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 14, 2004
Columbus, Ohio – After a weekend at home, the Ohio State women’s tennis team (8-10, 3-3 Big Ten) is back on the road this week for matches at Wisconsin at 10 a.m. Saturday and No. 11 Northwestern at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Scouting Wisconsin
The No. 52 Badgers are coached by Patti Henderson and own a record of 10-9 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten. In singles, No. 85 Katie McGaffigan leads the Badgers with an overall record of 19-13 and a spring dual record of 12-7. In doubles, McGaffigan teams with Lindsay Martin to form the No. 38 ranked duo in the country. They have collected 19 wins together this season. Wisconsin leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes, 21-5, but in the last meeting between the schools, Ohio State came out on top, 6-1, in Columbus.
Scouting Northwestern
The No. 11 Wildcats are 15-4 overall on the season and 5-1 in the Big Ten. In singles, head coach Claire Pollard’s team boasts a pair of ranked competitors: No. 3 Cristelle Grier and No. 55 Jessica Rush. For the season, Grier is 18-1 and Rush is 14-5. Rush and Grier also comprise the nation’s No. 2 doubles tandem. Together they have a record of 16-3. Northwestern leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes, 27-6, but Ohio State has picked up the most recent victory, a 4-3 triumph last season in Columbus.
Last Time Out
Last weekend the Buckeyes were victorious at home against Purdue, 5-2, on Saturday, but fell to No. 17 Illinois, 4-3, on Sunday. Against the Boilermakers, Erica Fisk (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) and Jackie Leskovar (Sr., Cambridge, Ontario/N.C. State) earned an 8-2 victory over Gretchen Haynor and Melissa Woods at the No. 1 position while the duo Lindsay Williams (Sr., Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Grove) and Meaghan Colville (Sr., Toronto, Ontario/Western Michigan) scored a come-from-behind victory over Hala Sufi and Shawna Zuccarini, 8-6, at No. 2. In singles, Ohio State won each of the Top 4 positions, highlighted by Williams’ comeback victory at No. 1 over Sufi that clinched the match. After winning the first set, 6-3, Williams trailed 5-2 in the second before storming back to take a 6-5 lead before eventually winning 7-6 (2). Other victorious Buckeyes were Fisk, Leskovar and Emily DeCamilla (Jr., Sacramento, Calif./Maryland). Against Illinois, the Buckeyes won the doubles point for the sixth time in as many home matches this season, lead by the tandem of Williams and Colville, which posted a win over Tiffany Eklov and Isabel Jarosz at No. 2, 8-3. DeCamilla and Lindsey Adams (Jr., Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) then clinched the doubles point with an 8-3 victory over Brianna Knue and Emily Wang. In singles, DeCamilla defeated UI’s Jarosz in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, and Kristin Messmer (Fr., Lutherville, Md./McDonogh) beat Eva Choe, 7-5, 3-6, (def.).
Williams Sets Doubles Standard
Following a 2-0 weekend, Lindsay Williams has set a career high in individual dual match doubles victories with 18. Her previous career high of 16 was set last season.
DeCamilla On Winning Streak
With two victories over the weekend, Emily DeCamilla has won three in a row and four of her last five. For the season, DeCamilla has established a career high in dual singles victories, with 10.
Buckeyes Double-up at Home
In seven dual matches at home this season, Ohio State has not lost the doubles point while recording a combined mark of 17-4. The duo of Lindsay Williams and Meaghan Colville (Sr., Toronto, Ontario/Western Michigan) are undefeated this season in Columbus (7-0).
Adams Surpasses Career High
Junior Lindsey Adams has played in every dual match of the spring campaign and surpassed her career high for overall singles victories in a season with 15. Adams earned nine in both her freshman and sophomore campaigns.
Fisk Rewriting Record Books
This season senior Erica Fisk has entered the Top 10 in all-time wins in singles and doubles at Ohio State. In singles, Fisk has 14 wins this season and 76 for her career, moving her past Michelle Matko (1998-2003) to sixth in all-time singles victories behind No. 5 Linda Magid’s 78. With 13 doubles victories this season, Fisk now has 76 all-time, vaulting her into the Top 10 at No. 10, passing Laura Schubert (1976-79).
Williams/Colville Pace Doubles
Leading in doubles this season has been the senior duo of Lindsay Williams and Meaghan Colville. Playing mostly at the No. 2 position, they have racked up a team-leading 11 wins.
Blanked
After recording no shutouts last season, the Buckeyes have two this spring. In addition to its blanking of Cleveland State Feb. 22, Ohio State shut out Penn State Feb. 15.
Upset Specials
After 18 dual matches, three Buckeyes own victories over ranked opponents. In singles, Lindsay Williams knocked off No. 13 Tammy Encina of Tennessee, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, Jan. 25 and No. 19 Gitte Ostermann of Nebraska, 6-0, 6-3, Feb. 20. In doubles, senior duo Erica Fisk and Jackie Leskovar knocked off No. 50 team Encina and Majen Immink of Tennessee, 9-8 (3), Jan. 25 and William and Mary’s No. 21-ranked Megan Muth and Amy Wei in a tiebreak, 9-8, Feb. 29.
Buckeyes in Rankings
Lindsay Williams checks in at No. 98 in the ITA National Rankings, released April 6. Two Buckeyes, Erica Fisk and Jackie Leskovar were ranked in the Midwest regional rankings released Dec. 4. Leskovar is No. 28 while Fisk holds down the No. 30 spot.
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 standout Kristy Dascoli (1999-2001) has been named assistant coach for the squad. 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.
Next Up
After facing the Wildcats, Ohio State wil close out the home schedule with a match against Iowa April 23 at 2:30 p.m., and with Minnesota April 25 at 11:30 a.m. Both matches will take place at the Stickney Tennis Center.
