Women’s Tennis Beats Penn State, 6-1, to Complete Regular Season – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 22, 2007
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team won the doubles point and 5-of-6 singles matches to down Penn State, 6-1, in its regular-season finale Sunday at Stickney Tennis Center in Columbus, Ohio. The No. 43-ranked Buckeyes now are 18-9 this season and finish Big Ten play 6-4 to place fifth. Penn State drops to 9-12 and 3-7 in the conference.
The Buckeye seniors, Sonia Ruzimvosky (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Tech) and Ciara Finucane (Dublin, Ireland/Georgia Southern, were honored prior to the match.
“What a great way for our seniors to go out, especially with Sonia clinching the match,” Chuck Merzbacher, Ohio State head coach, said. “The win put us in position for a good seed in the Big Ten tournament and a possible bid into the NCAA tournament. This team has accomplished a lot of its goals and has definitely shown improvement. We’ve fought hard throughout the season. It was nice to see us come back after losing to Michigan yesterday.”
The Buckeyes’ 18 wins this season tie for the second-most wins in a season by an Ohio State squad, matching the total from 1983 and 2000. The 2002 squad had a program-record 19 victories.
The teams split the first two matches off the court in doubles, before the Buckeye tandem of Angela DiPastina (Titusville, N.J./Hun School of Princeton) and Christina Keesey (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) downed Dorothy Dohanics and Lauren McCarthy at No. 3, 8-5, to clinch the doubles point for Ohio State. Caitlin O’Keefe (Jr., Troy, Mich./Troy) and Ruzimovsky posted the first win for the Buckeyes, as they downed Sarah Lotto and Lauren Holzberg, 8-1, at No. 2. At No. 1, the PSU tandem of Sasha Abraham and Jenny Shular tied the doubles competition with an 8-3 victory over Julie Blackmore (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) and Finucane. Ohio State went on to win five singles matches. Ruzimovsky clinched the win as she earned the Buckeyes’ fourth point with a straight-set victory over Holzberg at No. 4 *(6-4, 6-3).
Ohio State sophomore Julie Voss (San Angelo, Texas/St. Stephen’s Academy) posted the second Ohio State point with a victory over McCarthy at No. 6 (6-2, 6-1) and O’Keefe followed with a straight-set victory over Dohanics (6-2, 6-2). PSU’s Andreea Niculesco put the Nittany Lions on the board with a win at No. 1 over Blackmore, 6-2, 6-4. After Ruzimovsky clinched the fourth point and the Buckeyes’ win, Ohio State won the final two matches in three sets. At No. 2 Ally Mueller (Fr., Roswell, Ga./New Braunfels (Texas) came from a set down to defeat Abraham, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. At No. 3, Keesey won in a super tiebreaker over Shular, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The Big Ten tournament will be next weekend in Minneapolis. Ohio State will be the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 Iowa at 11 a.m. ET Friday in the quarterfinals. The winner of that match will meet the winner of the No. 1-seed Northwestern vs. No. 8 Penn State/No. 9 Michigan State winner at 11 a.m. ET Saturday in the semifinals. The championship match will be at 1 p.m. ET Sunday, with the winner winning the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
Tennis Match Results Penn State vs Ohio State Apr 22, 2007 at Columbus, Ohio
#43 Ohio State 6, Penn State 1
Singles competition 1. Andreea Niculescu (PSU) def. Julie Blackmore (OSU) 6-2, 6-4 2. Ally Mueller (OSU) def. Sasha Abraham (PSU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 3. Christina Keesey (OSU) def. Jenny Shular (PSU) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8) 4. Sonia Ruzimovsky (OSU) def. Lauren Holzberg (PSU) 6-4, 6-3 5. Caitlin O’Keefe (OSU) def. Dorothy Dohanics (PSU) 6-2, 6-2 6. Julie Voss (OSU) def. Lauren McCarthy (PSU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition 1. Sasha Abraham/Jenny Shular (PSU) def. Julie Blackmore/Ciara Finucane (OSU) 8-3 2. Sonia Ruzimovsky/Caitlin O’Keefe (OSU) def. Sarah Lotto/Lauren Holzberg (PSU) 8-1 3. Christina Keesey/Angela DiPastina (OSU) def. Dorothy Dohanics/Lauren McCarthy (PSU) 8-5
Match Notes: Penn State 9-12, 3-7 Big Ten Ohio State 18-9, 6-4 Big Ten; National ranking #43 Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,5,1,4,2,3)
