Ohio State Women’s Tennis Set to Host No. 11 Northwestern, No. 2 Notre Dame and Wright State – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 5, 2007
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Columbus, Ohio – The No. 48-ranked Ohio State women’s tennis team (14-6, 3-2 Big Ten) continues its stretch of four matches in six days when it hosts No. 11-ranked Northwestern at 11 a.m. Saturday in a Big Ten match.
Monday, the Buckeyes will face non-conference foes No. 2 Notre Dame at 2:30 p.m. and Wright State at 7:30 p.m. All home matches are scheduled for outdoors at the Stickney Tennis Center. In the case of inclement weather, they will be moved inside to Jesse Owens West Tennis Center.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Buckeyes entered the Fila ITA Rankings March 27 at No. 46 and are No. 48 in the rankings released Tuesday. Ohio State downed then-No. 16 Wichita State and then-No. 51 Minnesota each by 4-3 scores prior to entering the rankings.
This is the first time Ohio State is ranked since holding down the No. 73 spot April 11, 2006. It is the highest ranking since the 2004 squad ended the year ranked 41st.
LAST TIME OUT
The Buckeyes lost at Indiana, 6-1, Wednesday in Bloomington, Ind. Angela DiPastina recorded a win for the Buckeyes at No. 6 singles and the doubles tandem of Caitlin O’Keefe and Sonia Ruzimovsky won at the No. 2 position.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern, ranked 11th nationally, enters the match Saturday 11-4 on the year and 5-0 in the Big Ten with wins over Wisconsin (7-0), Michigan (5-2), Penn State (7-0), Illinois (7-0) and Purdue (7-0).
The Wildcats have three ranked singles players, as well as two ranked doubles teams. Georgia Rose is 13-1 at the No. 1 position this spring and is ranked 11th in the nation. Samantha Murray is 9-5 at No. 2 and holds down the 29th position. Lauren Lui is ranked 113th and is 8-5 at No. 4.
In doubles, the tandem of Rose and Alexis Prousis is ranked 13th and is 11-2 at No. 1. The No. 3 team of Nazlie Ghazal and Keri Robison is 55th in the NCAA and 7-2 this spring.
Claire Pollard, a 1989 graduate of Mississippi State, is in her ninth year at the helm of the Wildcats. She has a school record of 195-47 and has led Northwestern to eight-consecutive Big Ten titles.
The Buckeyes are 5-25 all-time against Northwestern. Last season, the Buckeyes lost on the road to the Wildcats, 7-0. The last meeting in Columbus was April 23, 2005, a 7-0 NU win. OSU’s last win against Northwestern was April 13, 2003 in Columbus (4-3).
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame enters the weekend ranked second nationally with a 19-1 mark (1-0 Big East). The Irish will play at Indiana Saturday before facing the Buckeyes Monday. ND’s lone loss came against No. 6 Georgia Tech, 4-2, in the final of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championship Feb. 4.
Notre Dame beat Purdue, 6-1, Tuesday in its last time out.
No. 26-ranked Catrina Thompson leads the Irish at the No. 1 position and is 15-5 this spring. Cosmina Ciobanu is ranked 48th nationally and is a perfect 20-0 in dual matches this season, including a 15-0 mark at No. 5.
In doubles, the duo of twins Catrina and Christian Thompson are ranked eighth nationally. They are 14-4 this spring at No. 1. The tandem of Brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft is 13-2 in the dual season and is ranked 21st.
Jay Louderback, a 1976 graduate of Wichita State, is in his 18th season at the helm of the Irish. He has a 328-149 record at Notre Dame and is 417-327 in his 28th year as a collegiate head coach. He has led Notre Dame to 13 conference titles and to 13 NCAA appearances in the last 14 years.
Ohio State is 3-13 all-time vs. Notre Dame. Last season the Buckeyes lost on the road to the Irish, 7-0. The last meeting in Columbus was in 2005, with ND winning, 6-1. The teams have met each of the last nine seasons.
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE
Wright State is 3-13 this season, with wins over Morehead State, IUPUI and Robert Morris. The Raiders are scheduled to play at Butler Thursday and at Cleveland State Saturday before facing Ohio State Monday in Columbus.
In their most recent match, a 4-2 loss at Dayton Tuesday, senior Tiffani Foster, a 2006 All-Horizon League First Team selection, played at No. 1 singles for the Raiders, followed by classmate Audra Beckett at the No. 2 position. Senior Jessica Lee was a second-team all-conference choice a year ago.
Walt Triplett, a 1995 Atlanta Metropolitan graduate, is in his third spring at the helm of the men’s and women’s tennis teams at Wright State. He led the women’s squad to a 9-15 mark last season, including a fourth-place finish in the Horizon League.
The Buckeyes are 1-0 all-time vs. Wright State.
AHEAD OF THE PACK
Leading the Buckeyes in overall singles wins this season is freshman Christina Keesey with 21. Freshman Ally Mueller and sophomore Julie Voss are tied for second with 18 wins each.
In the dual season, Keesey has a team-best 14 wins, followed by Mueller and Voss with 12 apiece.
In doubles, senior Sonia Ruzimovsky is first with 19 victories, followed by classmate Kristin Messmer with 18 victories. Senior Ciara Finucane and junior Caitlin O’Keefe each are third with 17.
The doubles tandem of O’Keefe and Ruzimovsky leads the squad with 17 wins this year.
IN THE CONFERENCE
The Buckeyes won their Big Ten opener, shutting out Wisconsin, 7-0, to stop a three-game losing streak against the Badgers. The squad now is 3-2 in Big Ten play, with wins at Minnesota and Michigan State and losses at Iowa and Indiana.
Northwestern (5-0) and Indiana (5-0) enter the weekend as the remaining teams unbeaten in Big Ten play. Michigan is in third with a 4-1 ledger, followed by Purdue at 3-1 and Ohio State and Iowa (3-2).
After the Buckeyes’ two non-conference matches Monday vs. Notre Dame and Wright State, the squad closes out the regular season with four-consecutive Big Ten matches.
ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END
Sophomore Julie Voss lost at No. 5 singles against Indiana Wednesday, ending her winning streak at a team-best 12 matches. Voss suffered her first loss this spring and now is 12-1 in dual matches. She is second in the Big Ten with 10 wins at No. 6 singles this year.
IN HER 20s
Buckeye freshman Christina Keesey has a team-best 21 wins this spring. She beat Michigan State’s Pascale Schnitzer for her 20th overall win of the campaign.
Last season, Angela DiPastina and Kristin Messmer ended the year tied for the team lead in wins with 20 each.
IN THE BOOKS
Senior Sonia Ruzimovsky now has 58 career singles wins to tie for 14th in program history. She is two behind Amy Marzluff in 13th place.
Ruzimovsky has a career singles mark of 58-44. Her winning percentage of .569 is 18th all-time in OSU history.
Senior Kristin Messmer has 61 singles victories to rank 16th in program history, one win behind 15th-place Laura Schubert. Messmer has 55 doubles wins to sit just outside the Top 15.
WHAT A WAY TO WIN
Ohio State has two 4-3 victories over ranked teams this year, downing then-No. 16 Wichita State March 19 in Fort Myers, Fla., and then-No. 51 Minnesota March 23 in Minneapolis. In both matches, a Buckeye won a three-set match to clinch the victory.
The Buckeyes used the doubles point and three come-from-behind three-set singles wins to defeat Wichita State, 4-3. Against the Shockers, freshman Christina Keesey won at No. 3 singles to lift the Buckeyes to the win.
Against Minnesota, the Buckeyes won four singles matches to come from behind and win after dropping the doubles point. Against the Gophers, sophomore Julie Voss came from a set down at No. 6 singles to secure the victory.
BEATING THE BEST
The win over Wichita State was Ohio State’s first victory over a team ranked in the Top 20 since downing No. 20 Illinois, 4-2, May 1, 2004, in the Big Ten championship. The Buckeyes also beat No. 16 William and Mary that season (W 4-3, Feb. 29, 2004).
KEESEY HONORED
Ohio State freshman Christina Keesey was named the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, the conference announced March 21. Keesey posted two singles wins for the Buckeyes March 19, as the team downed No. 16 Wichita State (4-3) and Florida Gulf Coast (7-0) in Fort Myers, Fla.
Keesey, from Northfield, Minn., (Northfield High School) was 2-0 for the Buckeyes at No. 3 singles. Against No. 16-ranked Wichita State, Keesey clinched the Buckeyes’ upset victory, coming back from a set down to beat Lenore Lazaroiu, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. The match was tied at 3-all when Keesey posted the win, leading the Buckeyes to their first win over a Top 16 opponent since downing No. 16-ranked William and Mary Feb. 29, 2004. Keesey closed out the day with a straight-set, 6-1, 6-1, victory over Krista Polulak of No. 11-ranked (Division II) Florida Gulf Coast.
Keesey is the first Buckeye to be honored by the league this season and the first since Lindsay Williams in February 2004.
START ANOTHER
The Buckeyes had their season-high seven-match winning streak ended with a loss at Iowa March 25. It was the team’s longest winning streak since the 2002 squad opened the year with eight-consecutive wins.
ANOTHER BLANK
Seven of the Buckeyes’ 12 wins this season have been 7-0 shutouts. The squad opened the year with three-consecutive whitewashes (vs. Bowling Green, vs. Cincinnati, at West Virginia) and blanked Miami (Ohio) Feb. 11, Eastern Kentucky Feb. 25, Wisconsin March 4 and Florida Gulf Coast March 19. It is the most shutouts in a season since the Buckeyes had seven 7-0 wins in 2001-02. The squad last year had five shutouts in 26 matches. The team record for shutouts in a season is 11, set in 1984 and 1986.
The Buckeyes were shut out at Iowa March 25, marking the first time the team was blanked this season and the first time the squad lost all three doubles matches this campaign.
A KEY
The Buckeyes have won the doubles point in 12 of their 14 wins this season and in 14 of their 20 matches.
Against Minnesota, Ohio State lost the doubles point, but won four singles matches for the win. At Michigan State, the Buckeyes were swept in doubles but won five singles matches to record the conference victory.
The team won the doubles point vs. Marshall Feb. 17, but lost the match.
HAPPY 50TH
Against Cincinnati Jan. 27, senior Sonia Ruzimovsky posted the 50th singles win of her Buckeye career, as she downed Valeriya Dandik in straight sets (6-1, 6-0). Ruzimovsky is second among current Buckeyes with 58 career wins, behind senior Kristin Messmer’s 61 victories.
Ruzimovsky posted her 50th career doubles victory against Louisville Feb. 25. She has a team career-best 58 doubles wins.
Messmer recorded her 50th career doubles win against Wisconsin March 4 and is 55-44 in doubles in her career.
THE ROOKS MAKE AN IMPACT
The two Buckeye freshmen, Ally Mueller and Christina Keesey, both have played in all 20 matches for the Buckeyes so far this spring. Keesey is 14-6 in singles and 4-1 in doubles. Mueller is 12-7 in singles and 7-8 in doubles in the dual season.
FACING THE NATION’S BEST
The Buckeyes will take on 13 teams currently ranked in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association national poll this season, including Top 12 teams Notre Dame (2nd), Northwestern (11th) and William & Mary (12th/L 6-1). In addition, Ohio State has faced or will go up against No. 23 Michigan, No. 27 Wichita State (W 4-3), No. 34 Indiana (L 6-1), No. 36 Auburn (L 6-1), No. 46 Purdue, No. 54 Virginia Tech (L 5-2), No. 55 Iowa (L 7-0), No. 57 Minnesota (W 4-3), No. 60 Marshall (L 5-2) and No. 74 Louisville (W 5-2).
AMONG THE BEST
Chuck Merzbacher, Ohio State head coach, has the eighth-ranked recruiting class for 2007, according to rankings compiled by tennisrecruiting.net. The duo of Paloma Escobedo and Cameron Hubbs, who signed NCAA National Letters of Intent in November, will join the Buckeye roster in the fall of 2007.
A panel of junior tennis experts, including journalists, tournament directors, referees and ranking chairmen from across the country, voted on the recruiting classes. Each panelist submitted his/her list of the Top 25 recruiting classes. Schools received 25 points for each first-place vote, 24 points for each second-place vote, down to 1 point for each 25th-place vote.
Escobedo, a native of Houston, Texas, has been ranked as high as 21st nationally among recruits for 2007 and currently is ranked 29th. She is ranked fourth among the gulf states and third in the state of Texas. Escobedo was a member of the Texas Fed Cup team who went undefeated in August at the 2006 UTSA Girl’s 18 Fed Cup Championships and posted a 5-2 record in the same month at the 2006 Girls 18 and Under Super Nationals in San Jose, Calif.
Hubbs, from Omaha, Neb., has been ranked as high as No. 60 in 2007 recruiting lists. She currently is ranked second in the plains states and is first in Nebraska. She is a three-time state champion at Omaha Westside High School. Hubbs is a standout in doubles and has been ranked as high as seventh nationally.
UP NEXT
The Buckeyes will travel for Big Ten matches at Purdue and Illinois next weekend. Ohio State will face the Boilermakers at 11 a.m. April 14 in West Lafayette, Ind., and will take on the Fighting Illini at noon April 15 in Champaign, Ill.
