Women’s Tennis Hits Road for Set of Weekend Matches – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 1, 2006
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team (6-3; 0-0 Big Ten) hits the road this weekend for a set of two weekend matches. The first is against the Marquette Golden Eagles at 3 p.m. Friday, followed by a match with the No. 37-ranked New Mexico Lobos at 10 a.m. Saturday. Both matches will be held at the Helfaer Tennis Stadium on the campus of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis.
A Look at Marquette
Marquette is led by head coach Jody Bronson. Bronson has spent her entire career at Marquette where she is now in her 21st season. Bronson is 246-212 overall and led the Golden Eagles to a 5-17 overall record last year. Marquette, now in the Big East, finished (tied) 11th in the Conference USA final standings last year. Marquette is 3-8 overall this season.
Marquette is led on the court by its No. 1 singles players, sophomore Maria Calbeto and freshman Lauren Little. The No. 1 doubles team for the Golden Eagles is Calbeto and junior Francinia Bonnelly.
The Buckeyes are 9-3 all-time against Marquette with the last meeting resulting in a 6-1 Buckeye victory in the 2002-03 season at Marquette.
Ohio State is 31-22 all-time against the Big East Conference, including a 6-1 victory over West Virginia earlier this year.
A Look at New Mexico
New Mexico head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz is in her 21st season with New Mexico. She led the Lobos to a 15-9 overall record last season. New Mexico was 6-1 in the Mountain West conference last year, good for a second-place league finish. The Lobos also finished the 2005 season ranked No. 50 in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. New Mexico currently is ranked No. 37 and is 6-1 on the season.
New Mexico currently has one singles player and two doubles teams ranked by the ITA. Senior Maja Kovacek is ranked No. 24 in singles. Kovacek and junior Eva Gersic are No. 3 in doubles, while sophomores Lucy Scott and Ola Abou-Zekry combine to make the No. 47-ranked doubles team.
Ohio State is 0-1 against the Lobos. New Mexico came away with the win, 9-0, in the 1996-97 season, OSU head coach Chuck Merzbacher’s first year.
Last Time Out
The Buckeyes dropped their match with No. 28 Tennessee, 5-2, Feb. 26.
The No. 1 doubles tandem of Caitlin O’Keefe (So., Troy, Mich./Troy) and Julie Blackmore (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) was defeated by Melissa Schaub and Ghizela Schutte, 8-4. At No. 2, Sonia Ruzimovsky (Jr., Brooklyn N.Y./Brooklyn Tech) and Angela DiPastina (Fr., Titusville, N.J.) dropped a tight match to No. 56-ranked Victoria Jones and Blakeley Griffith by a score of 8-6. Kristin Messmer (Jr., Lutherville, Md./McDonogh) and Ciara Finucane (Jr., Dublin, Ireland/Georgia Southern) were defeated at the No. 3 spot by Samantha Orlin and Stephanie Harris, 8-5.
The Buckeyes dropped the first four singles matches, but won the last two. At the No. 1 spot, O’Keefe was defeated by Jones, 7-5, 6-0. At No. 2, Schaub defeated Ruzimovsky by a close score of 7-5, 7-5. At No. 3, Blackmore was downed in a third-set super-tiebreaker by Griffith, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 1-0 (2). Orlin defeated Finucane in three sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, for the victory at the No. 4 spot. At No. 5, Messmer dropped Schutte, 6-3, 6-2. At No. 6, DiPastina won in a super tiebreaker over Harris, 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (9), for the win.
Mid-Season Leaders
After nine spring matches, freshman Angela DiPastina and junior Kristin Messmer now are tied to lead the Buckeyes in singles with 13 overall victories each.
In doubles, Sonia Ruzimovsky leads the way with 15 overall individual wins, while Angela DiPastina is right behind Ruzimovsky with 14 wins. The doubles team that leads the way is DiPastina and Ruzimovsky, who now are 12-3 on the season.
Spring Leaders
In the spring, junior Kristin Messmer is leading the Buckeyes in singles with a 7-1 mark. Fellow junior Ciara Finucane is right behind Messmer with a mark of 6-2.
Angela DiPastina and Sonia Ruzimovsky are the leading doubles team at 5-2 in the spring.
Facing Ranked Opponents
Of the remaining 16 regular-season matches for the Buckeyes, they will face nine teams currently ranked in the Fila Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. Those teams include No. 9 Northwestern, No. 26 Michigan, No. 27 Indiana, No. 30 Purdue, No. 37 New Mexico, No. 40 Iowa, No. 43 Nebraska, No. 49 Illinois, and No. 51 Wisconsin.
Doubles Point is Deciding Factor
The Buckeyes have won the doubles point in all six of their spring dual victories while dropping the doubles point in all three of their losses.
Bottom of the Lineup Leading the Way
The Top 3 spots of the lineup are a combined 15-12, while Nos. 4-6 are a combined 20-7. Overall, the Buckeyes are 32-12 in spring singles matches and 15-12 on the doubles side.
No. 5 Spot Dominating
This spring, the Buckeyes are 8-1 at the No. 5 spot, including a game-winning victory for junior Kristin Messmer over Natalie Laszkowski of Louisville in a 4-3 defeat of the Cardinals Feb, 25.
Up Next
The Buckeyes return to action March 19 as they travel to Newport Beach, Calif. to compete in the Newport Beach Tournament. The teams include Ohio State, No. 43 Nebraska, Washington St. and Loyola Marymount. The first match will be held at 9 a.m. with the second match at 3 p.m. All matches will be held at the Balboa Bay Tennis Club in Newport Beach.
