Women’s Tennis: Ohio State Set For Weekend Slate Against Oklahoma and Marquette – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Buckeyes open dual match action in Milwaukee, Wis.
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio State women’s tennis team will travel to Milwaukee, Wis., this weekend for dual matches with Marquette and Oklahoma. The Buckeyes will face the Golden Eagles on Friday at 5 p.m. EST and the Sooners at 1 p.m. EST on Saturday. The dual matches are the first of the year for the Scarlet and Gray.
Oklahoma is not ranked in the ITA Top 75, however freshman Ana-Maria Constantinescu is the No. 33 singles player in the country, and with teammate Chelsea Orr they form the nation’s 44th ranked doubles team. This is the first dual match of the year for the Sooners and the first meeting between Ohio State and Oklahoma.
Marquette opened its dual match season Jan. 19 at Illinois, falling 5-2 to the Fighting Illini. Last season, Ohio State edged the Golden Eagles, 5-2, in Columbus, behind solid play from Julie Blackmore, Julie Voss and Caitlin O’Keefe. The Buckeyes and Golden Eagles have met 14 times, with Ohio State holding an 11-3 advantage.
FLORIDA RECOUNT
The Ohio State women’s tennis team wrapped up play at the FGCU/Johan Kriek Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., with matchups against nationally ranked opponents Florida International and Miami (Fla.). The competition was the first of the 2008 calendar year for the Buckeyes.
Leading the way for the Buckeyes was junior Julie Blackmore and freshman Cami Hubbs, who each had 2-1 singles records and together posted a 2-2 mark in doubles play. Junior Julie Voss went 2-2 on the weekend in singles competition, defeating opponents from Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast.
Paloma Escobedo, a native of Houston, Texas, nearly defeated the 29th-ranked Laura Vallverdu of Miami (Fla.) on Sunday, dropping the first set, 5-7, winning the second, 6-2 and falling in the super tiebreaker, 10-6.
SPRING AHEAD
The Buckeyes will open up the Big Ten season March 8 at home against Indiana, but will first face 12 non-conference opponents. Opening with the first five dual matches on the road, the first home match for the Scarlet and Gray will come against South Florida Feb. 16.
Matches against six opponents ranked in the preseason ITA Top 75 highlight the pre-conference slate. A trip to No. 39 Virginia for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Feb. 1 begins ranked action, while a match two days later against No. 60 Virginia Tech follows. No. 9 Notre Dame will be the next challenge, followed by No. 29 South Florida, No. 45 Oregon and 75th-ranked Louisville.
BUCKEYES IN THE RANKINGS
The Ohio State women’s tennis team is ranked 52nd in the nation according to the preseason ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. Christina Keesey and Angela DiPastina are picked as the No. 33 doubles team nationally.
Keesey and DiPastina are also ranked in the preseason Midwest Region FILA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. DiPastina is ranked 24th in singles while freshman Paloma Escobedo is ranked 13th in the Midwest Region.
The Buckeyes finished the spring schedule last season ranked 52nd nationally. Despite the loss of five letterwinners, the Buckeyes have reloaded by adding Escobedo and fellow freshman Cami Hubbs. Hubbs went 12-2 on the fall season and won the Flight C singles championship at the Baylor Invitational. Escobedo went 5-3 during the fall and is 13th in the preseason Midwest rankings.
DiPastina and Keesey pulled off the biggest upset of the fall season when they knocked off the nation’s No. 1 doubles team from William & Mary at the ITA Indoor National Championships. On the fall season, the Buckeyes’ pair went 5-2.
WINNING WAYS
In just 17 collegiate matches, freshman Cami Hubbs is already leading the Ohio State women’s tennis team in wins with 14 victories. Hubbs went 2-1 at the FGCU/Johan Kriek Classic in her first action of the spring.
During the fall season, Hubbs reached two tournament finals, winning at the Baylor Invitational and falling in the final of the Hokie Invite. Hubbs also reached the round of 16 in the Midwest Regional Qualifier before falling in the first round of the main draw.
Second on the team in wins is junior Angela DiPastina. A native of Titusville, N.J., DiPastina dropped only two matches in fall play and won the Flight B title of the Hokie Invite. Last season’s co-win leader, Christina Keesey, was third on the team with seven victories in the fall.
A NEW HOME
The Ohio State University Varsity Tennis Center is the new indoor venue for the men’s and women’s tennis teams and opened in November. Located at 880 West Henderson Road in northwest Columbus, the 57,000 square foot center has six courts covered with a Plexipave surface.
The indoor tennis center accommodates approximately 400 spectator seats, plus standing room. In addition to 156 bleacher seats, the facility features 64 cabaret-style seats on court level at the north end and 96 individual seats in the south end. Additionally, 66 theatre-style seats will be available.
The site also houses the coaches’ offices, as well as locker rooms and team and recruiting rooms.
The Buckeyes will play their first official match in the Varsity Tennis Center Feb. 16 against South Florida.
RECAPPING FALL ACTION
The fall season was a successful one for the Buckeyes and will provide a great launching point for the spring schedule. Ohio State competed in four events, the Baylor Invitational, the Hokie Invitational, the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships and the Wilson/ITA National Indoor Championships.
The Scarlet and Gray opened at the Baylor Invite with freshman Cami Hubbs going undefeated in Flight C singles to take home her first collegiate title. Sophomore Christina Keesey advanced to the finals of both the consolation Flight A singles and the Flight B Doubles, falling in both.
At the Hokie Invite, junior Angela DiPastina won the Flight B singles crown while teammate Julie Blackmore won the Flight C singles title and lost in the final of the Flight B doubles.
The ITA Midwest Championships came next, with DiPastina making a run to the Round of 16, where she fell to the third-seeded Cosmina Ciobanu of Notre Dame 6-3, 6-4. Hubbs went 4-1on the tournament, earning a qualifying bid into the main draw and winning a consolation match.
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