Women’s Tennis: Ohio State Set for Showdown With No. 14 Notre Dame – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Buckeyes travel to Notre Dame Thursday in final road non-conference dual match
COLUMBUS, Ohio The No. 47 Ohio State women’s tennis team (4-0, 0-0 Big Ten) travel to Notre Dame, Ind., Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. EST matchup with 14th-ranked Notre Dame. The match is the final road non-conference dual match this season for the Buckeyes.
Historically, Ohio State has struggled against perennial national power Notre Dame, going just 3-14 against the Fighting Irish. The last win for the Buckeyes in the series came 18 years ago in 1990, when Ohio State was victorious by a 7-2 score. Last season in Columbus, the Scarlet and Gray were defeated 7-0.
HOMEWARD BOUND
Following the roadtrip to Notre Dame, the Buckeyes will return for a double-header with No. 30 South Florida and Toledo on Saturday. The matches will be the first played by the team inside the new Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center, which opened in late November.
Those two matches kick off an eight-match homestand for the Buckeyes, which spans over three weeks of the spring season. Following the Ft. Myers Collegiate Invite on March 17, Ohio State will return and play four-consecutive home matches before leaving Columbus and traveling to Northwestern and Wisconsin in early April.
BUCKEYES SWEEP VIRGINIA TOUR
In their last action, Ohio State swept through Virginia the weekend of Feb. 1, picking up wins over ACC opponents Virginia Tech and Virginia.
The Buckeyes began in Charlottesville against the Cavaliers on Feb. 1, winning a close 4-3 decision. The victory was spurred by Christina Keesey at the No. 3 spot, Julie Blackmore at the No. 4 spot, Cami Hubbs at the No. 5 and Caitlin O’Keefe at the No. 6 singles spots, who each won their matches and helped overcome the loss of the doubles point.
In Blacksburg, it was more of the same as the Scarlet and Gray defeated the Hokies, 5-2, after again losing the doubles point and rallying behind more solid play from the Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 spots. It was Keesey who claimed the clinching point in a second-set tiebreaker win over Jessica Long, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
BIG RANKS IN THE BIG TEN
With each holding a 4-0 record, Christina Keesey, Julie Blackmore, Cami Hubbs all hold the lead in their respective singles spots in the Big Ten and all three are also tied for third in the Big Ten in wins.
Keesey, a native of Northfield, Minn., is now in her sophomore campaign with the Buckeyes. Playing in the No. 3 spot, she has helped the Buckeyes to a 4-0 start this season, including winning the clinching match against Virginia Tech.
Blackmore led the Buckeyes in their two victories in Virginia, clinching the team’s come-from-behind win against Virginia with a three-set victory and also had a straight sets win from the No. 4 spot against Virginia Tech to help the team to a 5-2 triumph. Additionally, Blackmore was selected as the Ohio State athlete of the week for Feb. 5.
Freshman Hubbs continued in her winning ways by picking up two more wins against Virginia and Virginia Tech and now has a team-high 18 wins.
Caitlin O’Keefe, the lone senior on the squad, is now 4-0 on the season from the No. 6 spot. Despite an injury-shortened fall season, O’Keefe has hit the ground running in the spring and is now third in the Big Ten in wins from the No. 6 spot.
MOVIN’ ON UP
Ohio State is now ranked as the No. 47 team in the ITA Top 75 after its 4-0 start and two victories over ranked programs.
The Buckeyes began the season as the No. 52 team before moving up to No. 50 in the Jan. 29 rankings with two victories on the opening weekend of competition. After a brief stay at No. 48, Ohio State rose to 47th in the Feb. 12 rankings.
MILWAUKEE’S BEST
On the road in Milwaukee, Wis., Ohio State swept its opening weekend of competition by knocking off Oklahoma, 6-1, and defeating host Marquette, 7-0.
Julie Blackmore, Cami Hubbs and Caitlin O’Keefe each went unbeaten in singles and doubles competition, while freshman Paloma Escobedo suffered her sole singles loss against No. 33-ranked Ana-Maria Constaninescu of Oklahoma in No. 1 singles. Christina Keesey and Angela DiPastina were each 2-0 in singles play, but fell once in doubles competition.
On the weekend, Ohio State dropped only one match and lost just five sets in singles competition.
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 home-opener against No. 30 South Florida and Toledo will have begin an extended, eight match homestand for the Buckeyes. Following a roadtrip to the Fort Myers Collegiate Invite, Ohio State will once more return home for an additional four matches.
The Scarlet and Gray open the Big Ten season on March 8 against Indiana at 10 a.m.
BUCKEYES IN THE RANKINGS
The Ohio State women’s tennis team is ranked 47th in the nation according to the latest ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings released Feb. 12. Christina Keesey and Angela DiPastina were picked as the No. 33 doubles team nationally.
Keesey and DiPastina were also ranked in the preseason Midwest Region FILA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. DiPastina was ranked 24th in singles while freshman Paloma Escobedo was 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 21 collegiate matches, freshman Cami Hubbs is already leading the Ohio State women’s tennis team in wins with 18 victories. Hubbs went 2-1 at the FGCU/Johan Kriek Classic in her first action of the spring, followed by an additional two wins against Marquette and Oklahoma in dual matches. Hubbs picked up two more wins against Holly Johnson of Virginia Tech and Lara Alexander of Virginia.
During her prep career, Hubbs recorded an unblemished 117-0 record, won four consecutive metro and state titles and led her team to three state championships.
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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