Ohio State Women’s Tennis Set for Spring Break Road Trip – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 18, 2005
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team (5-9, 0-0 Big Ten) faces three nationally ranked opponents on the road this week, beginning with No. 37 San Diego State at 2 p.m. March 22. The Buckeyes then open Big Ten competition at 3 p.m. March 25 against Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, before traveling to face Minnesota at 11 a.m. March 27 in Minneapolis, Minn.
Scouting San Diego State
The Aztecs are 8-5 on the season and coached by Peter Materra.
Nina Spaeth plays No. 1 singles for the Aztecs and is 11-2 on the year.
Spaeth and Sisse Nielson are San Diego State’s leading doubles duo, having posted a 7-4 record at No. 3.
The Buckeyes lost their only previous meeting with the Aztecs, 5-3, on the road in 2000.
Scouting Iowa
Coach Darryl Greenan is in his first year at the helm for the 7-3 Hawkeyes (1-0 Big Ten), who finished sixth in the Big Ten last season.
No. 91 Hilary Mintz leads the Hawkeyes at the No. 1 singles spot with a 15-6 record overall.
Mintz and Meg Racette play No. 1 doubles and have posted an 11-7 mark.
Ohio State is 13-17 all-time against Iowa, including two wins last season. The Buckeyes downed the Hawkeyes 5-2 at home during the regular season, then knocked them off 4-3 in the semifinals of the Big Ten championship.
Scouting Minnesota
The Golden Gophers (5-5, 1-0) are coached by Tyler Thompson, who is in his fourth year in Minneapolis.
No. 80-ranked Nischela Reddy leads the Gophers with 11 wins and pairs with Ida Malmberg at the No. 1 doubles position.
Ohio State is 9-24 all-time versus Minnesota, including a 5-2 win last season in Columbus.
Last Weekend
The Buckeyes fell to No. 20 TCU, 5-2, despite victories in doubles by duo Emily DeCamilla (Sr., Sacramento, Calif./Maryland) and Meredith Vincent (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio/Virginia Tech), 8-3, at the No. 2 spot over Helena Besovic and Karla Mancinas. In singles, Caitlin O’Keefe (Fr., Troy, Mich./Troy) swept Andrea Morgado at the No. 6 position, 6-3, 6-4, and Sonia Ruzimovsky (Soph., Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Tech) picked up her team-leading ninth dual match victory when Ana Cetnik retired with an injury at No. 4.
Ruzimovsky ups win total Again
Sonia Ruzimovsky went 1-0 last weekend and boosted her team-leading spring singles win total to nine and overall win total to 19. Both are career highs.
Vincent Tops Doubles Wins Lists
Meredith Vincent has an overall doubles record of 13-7 this season, which leads Ohio State in both wins and winning percentage.
She also is part of the Buckeyes’ leading doubles team, having earned six wins when paired with fellow-senior Emily DeCamilla.
OSU Owns Buckeye State
Including a trio of 7-0 in-state wins this season over Cleveland State, Youngstown State and Akron, Ohio State is 18-0 against Ohio teams since coach Chuck Merzbacher took over the program prior to the 1996-97 season.
Doubles Usually Good Omen
Ohio State’s loss to Louisville was the first this season in which the Buckeyes won the doubles point but failed to prevail overall in the match. Ohio State now is 4-1 this season when winning the doubles point and 0-8 when failing to do so. Doubles were not played in Ohio State’s win at Saint Louis because injuries forced the Billikens to compete with only four players.
Merzbacher Reaches 250 Wins
Ohio State’s win over Cleveland State marked a milestone for head coach Chuck Merzbacher.
The 7-0 victory was Merzbacher’s 250th in his now 16-plus years as a college head coach.
Since beginning his career at 1989-90 at Northern Illinois, Merzbacher is 253-160.
Home Cooking
With 14 home matches this season, Ohio State will hope to continue its recent dominance in Columbus, where the team is 12-4 the last two seasons. The Buckeyes are 4-6 this season.
In only nine home matches a year ago, the Buckeyes posted a 7-2 record, with both losses coming at the hands of teams ranked in the Top 20.
Freshmen Get It Going
A trio of Ohio State freshmen earned their first collegiate singles wins during the fall season.
Caitlin O’Keefe earned a three-set victory over Emily Vest of Middle Tennessee State, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, for her first win Sept. 17 in Knoxville, Tenn., in the first round of the University of Tennessee/St. Mary’s Fall Classic.
The following weekend at the Kentucky Fall Classic in Lexington, Ky., Silvia Prajescu beat Alex de Guzman of William and Mary, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, for her first victory.
On Oct. 10 at the Eck Classic in South Bend, Ind., it was Nidhi Shah’s (Fr., Mumbai, India/Mithibai College) turn to break into the win column, topping Virginia’s Dora Bechliwanis in an eight-game pro set, 8-6.
Recruiting News
The Buckeyes have signed two student-athletes, Julie Blackmore, a senior at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Julie Voss, a senior from San Angelo, Texas, who attends St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, to NCAA National Letters of Intent to attend Ohio State and join the Buckeyes’ tennis team beginning in Fall 2005.
Blackmore is ranked No. 47 in the nation and No. 11 in Florida in the Girls’ Under-18 USTA rankings. She is a three-time state champion in singles and doubles in Division 2A and reached the Round of 16 in singles and the quarterfinals in doubles at the National Clay Courts meet in Memphis, Tenn., earlier this year. Blackmore, whose father, Bob, is an Ohio State alumnus, also is on the honor roll.
Voss, who plays for St. Stephen’s Tennis Academy, has been ranked in the Top 10 in Texas since age 10 and is ranked No. 9 in the state in the Girls’ Under-18 age group. She has been ranked as high as No. 14 nationally and recently advanced to the round of 16 of the International Tennis Federation tournament in El Paso, Texas. Voss also is a top student and a talented musician.
Adams, O’Keefe, Ruzimovsky Succeed At ITA Midwest Regional
Three Buckeyes stood out Oct. 21-23 at the ITA Midwest Regional tournament in Minneapolis, Minn.
In singles, Sonia Ruzimovsky won three matches, over Mallory Stemle of IUPUI (6-1, 6-1), Pavlina Akritas of Illinois (6-2, 6-2) and Reedhina Parekh of Western Michigan (6-2, 5-7, 6-4), to qualify for the 64-player main draw.
In doubles, senior Lindsey Adams and freshman Caitlin O’Keefe teamed up to advance to the Round of 16 with victories over Minnesota’s Jane Anderson and Nischela Reddy, 8-3, in round one before beating Michelle Cunningham and Mallory Stemle of IUPU by an 8-4 margin in round two. O’Keefe and Adams were knocked out of the tournament in the quarterfinals after dropping a close 9-7 decision to Lindsay Martin and Katie McGaffigan of Wisconsin.
Messmer and Ruzimovsky Lead Way at Eck Classic
Sonia Ruzimovsky led the Buckeyes last weekend at the Eck Classic in South Bend, Ind., by winning seven total matches. Sunday, Ruzimovsky and Kristin Messmer combined to beat Virginia’s Lauren Brech and Rachel Del Priore, 8-2, to close out a perfect 4-0 doubles weekend that also included wins over Notre Dame’s Liz Donohoe and Bailey Louderback, 8-1, Michigan State’s Pascale Schnitzer and Karen Gustafson, 8-2, and Kansas’ Luiza Loureiro and Stephanie Smith, 8-3.
In singles, Ruzimovsky beat Loureiro in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, Friday, Schnitzer in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, Saturday and Bruch,2-6, 7-6, 1-0(3), on Sunday.
Kentucky Fall Tournament Recap
The Buckeyes faced stiff competition Oct. 1-3 at the Kentucky Fall Classic in Lexington, Ky. Competing on the Wildcats’ home courts, Ohio State was led by the senior tandem of Lindsay Bryan and Meredith Vincent, who claimed the title in the green flight. In the flight championship match, Bryan and Vincent (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio/Virginia Tech) beat host Kentucky’s Foster and Sober, 9-7. The Buckeye duo reached the final with a pair of 8-6 victories over Marshall and White of Louisville and Yan and de Guzman of William and Mary.
Silvia Prajescu and Kristin Messmer led the Buckeyes in singles, both posting three victories against just one defeat.
Youngsters Lead Singles at Tennessee
Competing for the first time since losing four seniors from the 2003-04 squad to graduation, the Buckeyes were led by a pair of underclassmen who both earned a pair of victories at the University of Tennessee/St. Mary’s Fall Classic Sept. 17-19 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Sophomore Sonia Ruzimovsky and freshman Caitlin O’Keefe earned third place finishes with Day Three victories in their flights. Competing in Flight Six, Ruzimovsky swept Bonnie Baird of Furman, 7-6, 6-1, for her second victory of the weekend while O’Keefe earned her second win by topping fellow-Buckeye Lindsay Bryan, 6-5, 6-4, in Flight Three. Ruzimovsky also dispatched Alisha Talbot of Wake Forest and O’Keefe beat Emily Vest of Middle Tennessee State in first round action.
Returnees See Doubles Success
In contrast to singles action at Tennessee, Ohio State’s doubles play was dominated by upperclassmen. The senior doubles team of Emily DeCamilla and Lindsey Adams picked up two wins, a number matched by another upperclassmen duo, Emily Howard and Meredith Vincent.
DeCamilla and Adams beat Marti Morris and Mary Neill Hagood of Furman, 9-7, on Day Two to earn fifth place in Flight One. They also topped Barbara Orlay and Julia Roach of North Carolina State previously.
Vincent and Howard defeated Emily Vest and Claudia Szabo of Middle Tennessee State, 8-4, in Round One of Flight Three and teammates Silvia Prajescu and Lindsay Bryan in a third place match.
Next Up
After facing the Golden Gophers, Ohio State returns to action at 11 a.m. April 2 when they play host to Illinois and at 11 a.m. April 3 when they play host to Indiana. Both matches will take place in Columbus, Ohio at either the Stickney Tennis Center (outdoor) or the Jesse Owens West Tennis Center (indoor).
