Women’s Tennis: Ohio State Set for Hoosier Fall Classic – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Buckeyes head to Bloomington for action against nationwide competition
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio State women’s tennis team will head to Bloomington, Ind., this weekend for the Hoosier Fall Classic on the campus of Indiana University. The event is set up in the spirit of golf’s Ryder Cup, as individual players from the Big Ten will take on players from non-Big Ten schools in a round-robin tournament beginning Friday and ending Sunday.
Teams competing at the event include Kansas State, Indiana State, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Mississippi State and Indiana. Indiana State, Vanderbilt and Indiana all finished last season in the ITA Top 75, with Vanderbilt coming in at No. 10 in the final poll.
FLOWER UPDATE
Buckeye junior Kirsten Flower traveled to Pacific Palisades, Calif., this week for the 2008 Riviera/All-American Championships. In the first round of the qualifying draw, Flower faced the No. 2-seeded Julie Cohen of Miami (Fla.) and fell 6-1, 6-2.
Flower is the first Buckeye to compete at the All-American Championships since now-assistant coach Sadhaf Pervez played there as a senior in 2003.
LOOKING BACK AT THE WILLIAM & MARY INVITATIONAL
Freshman Kelsey Haviland stole the show for the Scarlet and Gray at the William & Mary Invitational, advancing to the finals of the Flight B singles draw and winning two of three doubles matches with partner Julie Voss. Voss also had a good first tournament, winning two singles in Flight C singles and two matches in Flight B doubles.
Angela DiPastina and Christina Keesey lost their first doubles match but then advanced to the finals of the consolation bracket. Senior Julie Blackmore won her first match in Flight B singles, while Cami Hubbs picked up her first win of the season in her final match of the tournament.
THE RUNDOWN
The Scarlet and Gray will look to top the 2007-08 campaign in which they made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004, scored a record 19 dual match wins and placed fifth in a competitive Big Ten.
The effort will be strengthened by the return of all but one letterwinner from a season ago, including three seniors, Julie Blackmore, Angela DiPastina and Julie Voss. Combined, the three have accounted for more than 150 singles victories during their tenure at Ohio State.
Also returning is junior Christina Keesey, as well as the dynamic sophomore tandem of Cami Hubbs and Paloma Escobedo. All three collected more than 20 wins in both singles and doubles in 2007-08, and they will again anchor the heart of both singles and doubles lineups.
The Buckeyes also welcome two newcomers, Kirsten Flower and Kelsey Haviland. Flower, a native of Upper Arlington and a former five-star recruit, comes to Ohio State after two seasons at Georgia Tech. Haviland, a graduate of Oakwood High School in Dayton, joins the Buckeyes after a successful prep career.
LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD
The ITA Midwest Championships follow the Hoosier Fall Classic, taking place Oct. 23-28 in East Lansing, Mich., on the campus of Michigan State. The Buckeyes will then try to qualify individuals for the ITA National Indoor Championships Nov. 5-8. The team will then go on a two-month break before resuming competition in the spring season Jan. 24.
FLOWER NATIONALLY RANKED
Junior Kirsten Flower has been ranked as the No. 41 singles player in the country according to the 2008-09 Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason rankings.
Flower, who transferred to Ohio State from Georgia Tech this offseason, has been ranked in the preseason singles poll all three years of her collegiate career. She is the first Buckeye ranked in the ITA singles poll since Lindsay Williams was ranked No. 98 in her senior season in 2004. She is also the highest ranked Buckeye since current assistant coach Sadhaf Pervez was No. 38 in February of 2003.
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