Ohio State Women’s Tennis Begins Three-Match Homestand – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/31/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 31, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team (2-1; 0-0 Big Ten) returns home to face the West Virginia Mountaineers (1-2; 0-0 Big East) at 2 p.m. Friday and the Missouri Tigers (0-0; 0-0 Big 12) at 10 a.m. Sunday. Both matches will be held at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center. The final match of the homestand will come at 4 p.m. Feb. 15 when the Buckeyes host the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center in Columbus.
Scouting West Virginia
West Virginia is led by Dan Silverstein, who is in his fifth season with the Mountaineers and ninth season overall. Silverstein is 43-41 in his fours years at West Virginia. The Mountaineers finished 16-7 last season while going 7-3 in the Big East and finishing tied for fifth.
Monica Lyskawa plays No.1 singles for the Mountaineers while the No. 1 doubles team is Raynie Theis and Stacey Percival.
West Virginia is 1-2 on the year with a win over Wright State and losses to William & Mary and East Tennessee State.
Ohio State is a perfect 11-0 when facing West Virginia. The Buckeyes last victory over the Mountaineers came in the form of a 7-0 shutout at home in the 2001-02 season. Ohio State is 5-0 when facing the Mountaineers in Columbus.
The Buckeyes are 30-22 all-time against the Big East conference.
Scouting Missouri
The Missouri Tigers are led by Blake Starkey. Starkey is in his ninth season in Columbia, where he has been his entire career, and is 97-98 while at the helm of the women’s tennis team. The Tigers were 15-9 overall last season and finished sixth in the Big 12 at 4-7.
The Tigers open their spring season Saturday as the face off against West Virginia in Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio State is 2-1 all-time against the Tigers. The last meeting, in the 2004-05 season, resulted in a 5-2 Missouri victory in Columbia. The two Buckeye victories over the Tigers came in back-to-back seasons as Ohio State won 9-0 at home in the 1977-78 season then traveled to Columbia in the 1978-79 season and shut out the Tigers, 7-0. The Buckeyes are 6-3 all-time against the Big 12 conference.
Last Time Out
Last weekend the Buckeyes fell to No. 22 Notre Dame, 7-0, in South Bend, Ind.
At the No. 1 spot in singles, Caitlin O’Keefe (So., Troy, Mich./Troy) was defeated by No. 24-ranked Catrina Thompson, 6-2, 6-3. At No. 2, Angela DiPastina (Fr., Titusville, N.J.) was downed in two sets by No. 44-ranked Christian Thompson by a score of 6-2, 6-1. Sonia Ruzimovsky (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Tech) squared off against Brook Buck at the No. 3 spot and was downed, 6-2, 6-2. At No. 4, Julie Blackmore (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) was defeated by Kelcy Tefft, 6-2, 6-3. Kristin Messmer (Jr., Lutherville, Md./McDonogh) was downed, 6-2, 6-3, by Kristina Stastny at the No. 5 spot and at No. 6, Ciara Finucane (Jr., Dublin, Ireland/Georgia Southern) was defeated by Katie Potts, 6-3, 6-0.
In doubles, Blackmore and O’Keefe fell to No. 1-ranked Thompson and Thompson by a score of 8-1 at the No. 1 spot. At No. 2, DiPastina and Ruzimovsky were defeated by No. 35-ranked Buck and Tefft. In the final doubles match, Finucane and Messmer were downed by No. 45-ranked Connelly and Stastny, 8-5.
Milestone for Merzbacher
Head coach Chuck Merzbacher took over first place on the all-time wins list with a 7-0 victory over Cincinnati Jan. 21. Merzbacher is now 125-110 and is in his 10th season at Ohio State. In his tenure with the Buckeyes, Merzbacher has led Ohio State to six NCAA tournament appearances, has produced two All-Americans and led the Buckeyes to a Big Ten championship in 2000.
Early Leaders
After three spring matches, freshman Angela DiPastina continues to lead the Buckeyes in singles with 10 victories.
In doubles, Ohio State has two players tied with 10 victories each as Julie Blackmore and Sonia Ruzimovsky battle for the top spot. The doubles team that leads the way is Angela DiPastina and Sonia Ruzimovsky who are now 7-2 on the season.
Buckeye Juniors Leading the Way
In the first three spring matches, the three Ohio State juniors, Ciara Finucane, Kristin Messmer and Sonia Ruzimovsky are a combined 6-3 in singles.
A Look at the Schedule
The schedule for the Buckeyes will be a difficult one. They face eight teams that went to the NCAA tournament last season, five of which hail from the Big Ten.
Ohio State will play 15 home matches, including seven of the first 10, which will help the Buckeyes as they continue the spring season. They also finish the schedule with six of the last eight matches in Columbus.
Facing Ranked Opponents
Of the remaining 21 regular-season matches for the Buckeyes, they will face eight teams currently ranked in the top 52 of the Fila Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. Those teams include No. 4 Northwestern, No. 32 Indiana, No. 35 Michigan, No. 37 Nebraska, No. 40 Purdue, No. 43 Iowa, No. 47 New Mexico and No. 52 Wisconsin.
Up Next
The Buckeyes are off next weekend, but return to the court Feb. 15 when they host the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. The match will held at 4 p.m. at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center in Columbus.
