Buckeyes Travel to the Desert for ASU Thunderbird – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Nov. 3, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Members of the Ohio State women’s tennis team will travel to Tempe, Ariz., Friday to compete in the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational. The tournament begins Friday morning and continues through Sunday.
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THE THUNDERBIRD
The Buckeyes are one of 10 teams competing at the event. Fellow Big Ten squads Michigan and Northwestern will join Ohio State in the desert, along with California, Fresno State, Kansas State, Northern Arizona, San Diego, Utah and host Arizona State.
Senior Kelsey Haviland will be joined in the tournament by the junior class of Kara Cecil, Fidan Manashirova and Gabby Steele.
Each day will begin with doubles matches at 8:30 a.m. PT before moving to singles competition. Visit www.thesundevils.com to follow the tournament.
OHIO STATE AT THE THUNDERBIRD
The Buckeyes are making the trip to Arizona State for the third-consecutive season after trips in 2009 and 2010. In ’09, the Buckeyes combined to post six singles victories as well as a trio of doubles wins. Last year, OSU experienced similar success, taking six singles wins and a pair of doubles victories.
SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
The ASU Thunderbird Invitational is the final fall tournament for the Scarlet and Gray in 2011. Ohio State opens the new year against South Florida Jan. 15 in Tampa, Fla., before beginning its home slate with a Jan. 21 doubleheader against West Virginia and Dayton.
The Buckeyes wrap up January with a trip to Tallahassee, Fla., Jan. 28-29 to compete in the ITA Kickoff Weekend event against Florida State and either Texas A&M or Mississippi.
LEADING THE PACK
Sophomore Tiffany Dittmer leads the Buckeyes with six singles victories this fall. The Hamburg, Germany, native picked up a pair of wins in singles qualifying to reach the main draw at the USTA/ITA Division I Midwest Regional Championships after opening the season with a three-win effort at the Muirfield Collegiate Tennis Invitational.
Junior Kara Cecil follows closely behind with five singles wins. Cecil battled her way to the Round of 16 at the Midwest Regional after taking matches against Julie Sabacinski of Notre Dame and 118th-ranked Zara Harutyunyan of Akron.
Cecil and freshman Kelsey Dieters have picked up five doubles wins this fall, best on the team. The duo reached the quarterfinals of the Midwest Regional Oct. 23. The Buckeye tandem earned a win over the ranked tandem of Louisville’s Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine at the Muirfield Collegiate Tennis Invitational Sept. 18.
