Ohio State Heads to New Haven for ITA National Team Indoors
2/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 9, 2017
COLUMBUS, Ohio –The No. 7-ranked Ohio State women’s tennis team (5-0, 0-0 B1G) travels to New Haven, Conn., for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship this weekend. The Buckeyes, seeded No. 6 in the tournament, will open play vs. No. 14 Auburn at 9 a.m. at the Rocky Hill Tennis and Fitness Center.
Each team is guaranteed at least three matches in the tournament. The winner of the matchup between the Buckeyes and Auburn will advance to play the winner of the match between No. 3 seed Oklahoma State and Ole Miss in the quarterfinals Saturday. Semifinals are set for Sunday, with the final slated for Monday.
Joining No. 6 Ohio State as seeded teams are No. 1 Florida, No. 2 North Carolina, No 3. Oklahoma, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 5 Georgia, No. 7 California and No. 8 Vanderbilt. The other teams in the tournament are Michigan, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Duke, Auburn, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech and Yale.
Fifteen of the teams qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship by winning two matches at regional sites on ITA Kick-Off Weekend, with Yale receiving a spot as the host team. This is the 30th edition of the tournament.
Live scoring for the event is HERE. FloTennis will be on site providing live streaming coverage of all four days of competition. FloTennis is a subscription-based service with monthly and annual rate options. To sign up and view the live stream, click HERE.
Buckeyes Headed to ITA National Team Indoors for Third Time
This marks the Buckeyes’ third appearance in the event. Last year, the squad was seeded No. 8 and was 2-1 in Madison, Wis., defeating Fresno State (4-2) and No. 1 Vanderbilt (4-3) before falling to No. 4 Cal (4-3) in the semifinals.
The 2001 team was the first to be invited and was 1-2 in Madison, Wis., falling to No. 7 Pepperdine (6-1) and No. 40 Oklahoma State (5-2) before a 5-2 win over No. 8-ranked UCLA.
A Look at the Tigers
No. 14 Auburn is 7-0 to start the campaign, coming off a two-win weekend vs. Illinois and Michigan State. The Tigers topped USC, 4-1, in the second round of ITA Kick-Off Weekend to earn their spot at national indoors. Auburn beat Fresno State, 4-0, in the first round of ITA Kick-Off Weekend at home.
The squad features four ranked singles players and three ranked doubles tandems. Junior Alizee Michaud checks in at No. 28, freshman Taylor Russo at No. 98, redshirt junior Roos van der Zwaan at No. 112 and Alannah Griffin at No. 120. The duo of Russo and Michaud is slotted at No. 6, the pair of sophomore Caroline Turner and freshman Georgie Aixon at No. 31 and Griffin with junior Andie Dikosavljevic at No. 37.
Ohio State is 3-4 all-time vs. the Tigers. The teams last squared off in 2011 where the Buckeyes defeated Auburn, 4-0, in Columbus.
Last Time Out
The Buckeyes topped No. 9 Vanderbilt Sunday in Nashville, 5-2, in a matchup of two Top 10 ranked teams.
Against the Commodores, Ohio State dropped the doubles point and was down 1-0 going into singles. The Buckeyes got on the board when sophomore Francesca Di Lorenzo won on court one in straight sets in a matchup of the Top 2 ranked singles players in the nation. Seniors Gabriella De Santis, Sandy Niehaus, Miho Kowase and Ferny Angeles Paz also all notched singles wins for the Scarlet and Gray, with Kowase clinching the win with a three-set victory and Niehaus also prevailing in three.
De Santis Named B1G Athlete of the Week
After winning a key singles match vs. Vanderbilt, senior Gabriella De Santis was named the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week.
De Santis upset No. 28-ranked Christina Rocca in straight sets on court three. Her win tied the match at two after the Buckeyes dropped the doubles point and the first singles match off the court. De Santis downed Rocca in the first set, 6-1, before claiming the second in tiebreaker. This is her fourth Big Ten Athlete of the Week Award and the win put her in the rankings at No. 68.
Rankings Update
In the second Oracle/ITA individual rankings of 2017, sophomore Francesca Di Lorenzo remains ranked first. Junior Anna Sanford checks in at No. 55, senior Gabriella De Santis, previously unranked, at No. 68, senior Miho Kowase at No. 84 and junior Olivia Sneed at No. 111.
The fourth set of team rankings were released last week, with Ohio State remaining seventh. The Buckeyes are ranked highest among the Big Ten programs, with No. 13 Michigan and No. 23 Northwestern joining them in the Top 25.
Buckeye Leaders
Senior Ferny Angeles Paz and sophomore Francesca Di Lorenzo lead the Buckeyes with 13 singles wins on the year and Angeles Paz leads the team with five dual match victories. Senior Miho Kowase is second with 12 victories on the year and also second in dual match victories with four wins this spring.
In doubles, senior Sandy Niehaus is first with 10 wins followed by Kowase with eight and Angeles Paz and junior Anna Sanford with seven. The senior tandem of Gabriella De Santis and Niehaus has a team-best six victories overall, while the pair of Kowase and Di Lorenzo leads the team with three dual match victories.
The Buckeyes are undefeated on courts four, five and six, with a 5-0 mark on each. The squad is 3-0 on courts one and three and 2-1 on court two. In doubles, court two is undefeated (4-0), with courts one and three both 3-1.
Up Next
The Buckeyes will return home to face Big Ten foes No. 13 Michigan at 3 p.m. Feb 17 and Penn State at noon Feb. 19. Admission for both home matches, held inside the Varsity Tennis Center, is free.
