Buckeyes Honored by ITA with Regional Awards – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 9, 2016
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association has recognized players and coaches from Big Ten women’s tennis regular season and tournament champion Ohio State with Midwest Region awards. Francesca Di Lorenzo was named the rookie of the year and Miho Kowase was the recipient of the Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship. Melissa Schaub was named Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year for the Region and Adam Cohen was honored as the region’s assistant coach of the year. Select coaches in each region comprised the awards committee. The national awards will be announced May 24.
Di Lorenzo joins current junior Gabriella De Santis (2014) as Buckeyes to receive the region’s rookie of the year award. Kowase is the first Ohio State player to claim the Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship for the Midwest. Schaub, who was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in both 2015 and ’16, is the first Ohio State coach to earn Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year honors for the region. Cohen is the second Buckeye coach to earn the region’s assistant coach of the year accolade, joining Frank Polito in 2002.
New Albany, Ohio, native Di Lorenzo is the 2016 Big Ten Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. The No. 3 seed in the NCAA singles draw and current third-ranked player in the nation, she has been ranked in the Top 5 all spring, including four weeks at No. 1, the first Buckeye to hold down the top spot. She is 24-3 in dual matches this spring, including 11-0 in Big Ten play, all on court one. Di Lorenzo is 33-4 overall this season, the second-most wins in a single season for a Buckeye, and has won her last 12 matches. Di Lorenzo won the ITA National Indoor Championship in the fall for the first national championship in program history. In doubles, Di Lorenzo is 23-3 in dual matches.
Tokyo, Japan, native Kowase received the Cissie Leary Award, which is given to a junior or senior who has “demonstrated extraordinary commitment and unwavering dedication to the team, with exceptional hard work, courage, sportsmanship and a positive, cooperative attitude that makes people around her play better.” She is 21-2 in dual matches and has a 27-4 ledger overall this year. Kowase, who had a team-high 17-match winning streak during the spring, was 8-0 in B1G singles matches, playing on courts 2, 3 and 4. She is paired with Anna Sanford to form the nation’s No. 9-ranked doubles team. The duo, which won the ITA Midwest Region doubles title in the fall, has been ranked in the Top 10 all spring (including time at a program-record second) and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA doubles championship. The tandem was 6-2 in Big Ten play and is 17-6 in dual matches, playing all but one match on court one, with a 25-8 overall record.
Schaub and Cohen have guided the Buckeyes to the best regular season in program history, as the squad is 28-2 overall, winning its last 13 matches and setting the program record for wins in a season. The Buckeyes were 11-0 in Big Ten play, dropping just one team point in conference matches, to win the outright regular season title and claimed the program’s first conference tournament crown. The Buckeyes qualified for the National Team Indoor Championship for just the second time in program history, advancing to the semifinals. The team has been ranked in the Top 6 since Feb. 10, including time at No. 1. Ohio State earned the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Championship and was selected to host tournament matches for the first time.
In the NCAA Tournament, the Buckeyes will take on Youngstown State (12-12) in the first round at 1 p.m. Friday, with UCLA (14-6) facing Notre Dame (14-13) in the other first round matchup at 10 a.m. The winning teams will meet at 4 p.m. Saturday for a spot in the NCAA Round of 16, which will be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. All matches are scheduled to be played outdoors at the Varsity Tennis Courts in Columbus.
