Ohio State to End Regular Season at Home – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 20, 2004
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Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team (8-12, 3-5 Big Ten) ends its regular season with a pair of home matches this weekend, facing Iowa at 2:30 p.m. Friday and Minnesota at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the Stickney Tennis Center.
Scouting Iowa
The No. 39 Hawkeyes (11-7, 4-4 Big Ten) are coached by Paul Wardlaw and lead in singles by Meg Racette, who has tallied 11 wins this spring.
In doubles, Racette teams with Hilary Mintz at the No. 1 postion, where the duo carries a record of 13-9.
Iowa leads the all-time series with Ohio State, 17-11, including a 4-3 Hawkeye victory last season. The Buckeyes last defeated Iowa in 2002, a 5-2 victory in Columbus.
Scouting Minnesota
The Golden Gophers (2-17, 0-8 Big Ten) are coached by Tyler Thomson and lead in singles by No. 65 Angela Buergis, whose record stands at 13-6 this spring.
In doubles, the duo of Buergis and Nischela Reddy are 10-11 playing at the No. 1 position.
Ohio State trails the all-time series with Minnesota, 8-24, including a 4-3 loss last season. The Buckeyes last beat the Golden Gophers, 5-2, in 2002 in Minneapolis.
Last Time Out
Last weekend the Buckeyes dropped a pair of road matches, Saturday at Wisconsin, 7-0, and Sunday at No. 11 Northwestern, 6-1.
The highlight of the weekend for the Buckeyes came Saturday at Wisconsin in doubles competition. Playing at the No. 1 position, the duo of Lindsay Williams (Sr., Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Grove) and Meaghan Colville (Sr., Toronto, Ontario/Western Michigan) upset the nation’s No. 38 ranked Katie McGaffigan and Lindsay Martin, 8-1. The win was the 12th of the season for Williams and Colville, which leads the team.
Lindsay Bryan (Jr., New Orleans, La./Ursuline Academy) picked up a singles victory Sunday at Northwestern, 6-3, 6-2, at the No. 6 position over Ruth Barnes.
Four Seniors to Say Goodbye
The match Sunday with the Golden Gophers will be the last home match for Buckeyes seniors Lindsay Williams, Erica Fisk, Jackie Leskovar and Meaghan Colville.
Over the past three seasons, Ohio State has earned three Top 4 finishes in the Big Ten and extended its school record streak of NCAA Championship appearances to five.
Williams and Fisk have both been fixtures in the starting singles lineup since arriving in Columbus together prior to the 2000 Fall season. Williams has earned 60 career victories thus far while Fisk while collected 76, sixth most in school history.
Leskovar, who transferred to Ohio State from N.C. State prior to her junior season (2002-03), is a two-year starter in both singles and doubles, while Colville, who transferred to Columbus after one season with Western Michigan, has earned 61 career doubles victories in three years in the starting lineup.
Williams Sets Doubles Standard
Lindsay Williams has set a career high in individual dual match doubles victories with 19. Her previous career high of 16 was set last season.
Buckeyes Doubly Good at Home
In seven home dual matches 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 12 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
Five Buckeyes own victories over ranked opponents this season.
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.
Last weekend, the duo of Williams and Meaghan Colville upset No. 38 ranked Katie McGaffigan and Lindsay Martin of Wisconsin, 8-1.
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
The Buckeyes’ match with Minnesota concludes the regular season, Ohio State returns to action for the 2004 Big Ten Championship, April 29-May 2 at Evanston, Ill.
