Women’s Tennis Set for Newport Beach Tournament – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 15, 2006
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Columbus, Ohio – The No. 57 Ohio State women’s tennis team (7-4; 0-0 Big Ten) hits the road this weekend for a set of two weekend matches. Ohio State will compete in the Newport Beach Tournament in Newport Beach, Calif. March 19.
The No. 2 seed Buckeyes face No. 3 seed Washington State while No. 1 seed Nebraska faces No. 4 seed Loyola Marymount. Both matches will be held at noon EST. At 5 p.m. EST the winners from the first games will meet while the losers from those games will meet. All matches will be held at the Balboa Bay Tennis Club in Newport Beach.
In the Fila ITA rankings released March 14, Nebraska is No. 42, Ohio State is No. 57, Washington State is No. 71 and Loyola Marymount is No. 75.
Buckeyes Enter ITA Rankings
The Buckeyes entered the Fila Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings March 14 at No. 57. It is the highest ranking for Ohio State since January 2005 when the Buckeyes were No. 49.
A Look at Washington State
The Washington State Cougars are led by head coach Lisa Hart. Hart led the Cougars to a 9-14 overall record last season. Washington State finished ninth in the PAC 10 last season with a 0-8 conference record.
The Cougars currently are 6-7 on the year and ranked No. 71 in the latest ITA poll.
This will be the first meeting between the Buckeyes and the Cougars.
Ohio State is 0-4 all-time against teams from the PAC 10 conference.
Loyola Marymount at a Glance
The Lions are coached by Jamie Sanchez, who is in her 32nd season at LMU. Sanchez led the Lions to a 11-13 overall record last year and a 5-3 West Coast conference record, good for third in the conference. LMU is now 5-7 on the year and ranked No. 75.
Ohio State is 1-0 all-time against Loyola Marymount with the only meeting resulting in a 9-0 Buckeye victory at home in the 1980-81 season.
The Buckeyes are 5-1 all-time against the West Coast Conference.
A Look at Nebraska
Scott Jacobson is the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He led them to an 18-4 overall record last season. The Cornhuskers finished third in the Big 12 with a 9-2 conference mark.
Nebraska is currently ranked No. 42 with a 9-3 overall record.
The Buckeyes are 2-2 all-time against Nebraska. The last meeting between the two schools resulted in a 6-1 Ohio State home victory in the 2003-04 campaign.
Ohio State is 10-3 all-time against the Big 12 conference.
Last Time Out
The Buckeyes dropped a close match with New Mexico, 4-3, March 4 in Milwaukee, Wis. The Buckeyes dropped all three doubles matches as the doubles point went to the Lobos. At No. 1, the tandem of Sonia Ruzimovsky (Jr., Brooklyn N.Y./Brooklyn Tech) and Angela DiPastina (Fr., Titusville, N.J.) lost to the No. 3-ranked doubles team of Maja Kovacek and Iva Gersic, 8-3. At No. 2, Caitlin O’Keefe (So., Troy, Mich./Troy) and Ciara Finucane (Jr., Dublin, Ireland/Georgia Southern) dropped a close match to Ola Abou-Zekry and Lucy Scott by the score of 9-8. At No. 3, Julie Blackmore (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) and Kristin Messmer (Jr., Lutherville, Md./McDonogh) fell to Jennifer Ryba and Nora Quintal, 8-6.
The Buckeyes split the singles matches with the Lobos. At No. 1, O’Keefe was defeated by No. 24 Kovacek, 7-5, 6-3. At No. 2, Ruzimovsky was downed by Gersic by a score of 6-4, 6-4. Blackmore came back to defeat Abou-Zekry in three sets at the No. 3 spot, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. At No. 4, Finucane rebounded after dropping the first set to down Quintal in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. At No. 5, Messmer dropped Scott, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. DiPastina was defeated by Ryba in three sets at the No. 6 spot, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, to clinch the win for the Lobos.
Mid-Season Leaders
After 11 spring matches, junior Kristin Messmer leads the Buckeyes in singles with 15 overall victories, including the fall.
In doubles, Sonia Ruzimovsky leads the way with 16 overall individual wins, while Angela DiPastina is right behind Ruzimovsky with 15 wins. The doubles team that leads the way is DiPastina and Ruzimovsky, who now are 13-4 on the season.
Spring Leaders
In the spring, junior Kristin Messmer is leading the Buckeyes in singles with a career-high 10 dual-match victories. Fellow junior Ciara Finucane is right behind Messmer with a mark of 8-3.
Angela DiPastina and Sonia Ruzimovsky are the leading doubles team at 6-3 in the spring.
Facing Ranked Opponents
Of the remaining 14 regular-season matches for the Buckeyes, they will face eight teams currently ranked in the Fila Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. Those teams include No. 6 Northwestern, No. 22 Michigan, No. 33 Indiana, No. 36 Purdue, No. 38 Iowa, No. 46 Illinois and No. 71 Washington State. The Buckeyes will also face either No. 42 Nebraska or No. 75 Loyola Marymount this weekend.
Doubles Point is Deciding Factor
The Buckeyes have won the doubles point in all seven of their spring dual victories while dropping the doubles point in all four of their losses.
Upperclassmen Leading the Way
This spring, the three Buckeye juniors- Ciara Finucane, Kristin Messmer and Sonia Ruzimovsky- are a combined 25-8 in singles while the freshmen and sophomores- Angela DiPastina, Julie Blackmore, Caitlin O’Keefe, Nidhi Shah and Julie Voss are a combined 19-14.
No. 5 Spot Dominating
This spring, the Buckeyes are 10-1 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. No.s 2 and 6 are a close second as the Buckeyes are 8-3 at each spot.
Up Next
The Buckeyes will open Big Ten play when they host Minnesota at 11 a.m. March 25 and Iowa at 11 a.m. March 26. Both matches will be held at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center in Columbus.
