No. 2 Ohio State Back in B1G Action, Hosts Wisconsin Friday
3/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 16, 2017
• Ohio State vs. Wisconsin: Live Scoring and Video
• Ohio State at Minnesota: Live Scoring | Live Video
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 2-ranked Ohio State women’s tennis team returns to Big Ten action this weekend, hosting Wisconsin (4-6, 0-1 B1G) at 5 p.m. Friday inside the Varsity Tennis Center. The squad will then head to Minnesota (9-4, 1-0 B1G) for a noon ET match Sunday vs. the Gophers. Admission is free to the match in the VTC. Live scoring and video is available for both matches.
IN THE RANKINGS
In the ITA rankings released this week, the Buckeyes were ranked second as a team.
The Buckeyes have five ranked singles players and four ranked doubles teams. Francesca Di Lorenzo is ranked first, with Gabriella De Santis No. 41, Miho Kowase No. 53, Sandy Niehaus No. 54 and Anna Sanford No. 61.
In doubles, Di Lorenzo and Kowase are ranked 10th. De Santis and Niehaus are No. 31, Di Lorenzo and Sanford are No. 63 and Ferny Angeles Paz and Olivia Sneed are No. 79.
BUCKEYES VS. BADGERS
Ohio State is 14-31 all-time vs. Wisconsin but has won the last 11 matches between the teams, including a 7-0 victory in Columbus last year and a 4-0 victory in the 2016 Big Ten Tournament in East Lansing.
BUCKEYES VS. GOPHERS
The Buckeyes are 21-24 all-time vs. the Gophers and have won the last 12 meetings between the teams. The squads met in Columbus last season, a 7-0 Buckeye victory.
BUCKEYE SNAPSHOT
Ohio State enters the match 14-2 this spring, with its losses to No. 1 ranked Florida and No. 3 ranked North Carolina. Overall, the Buckeyes are 7-2 vs. ranked teams this season, with six of the wins over teams in the Top 15 at the time of the match.
The Buckeyes enter the match Friday with wins in their last 25 home matches, including a 5-2 victory over Virginia last week.
LAST TIME OUT
Ohio State faced top ranked Florida Tuesday at the USTA National Campus in Florida as part of the College MatchDay series, falling to the Gators, 4-1. Florida won the doubles point with victories on courts three and one and then won singles matches on courts two and three for a 3-0 lead. Buckeye Francesca Di Lorenzo put Ohio State on the board with a straight-set win on court one, but the Gators clinched the victory with a win on court six. The matches on courts five and four were in a third set when play was abandoned.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Ohio State is 108-37 overall this year, with a 62-14 mark in dual matches.
• The squad has combined for a 14-0 mark on court five and 11-1 mark on court six, going 12-1 on court four and 12-1 on court one.
• The Buckeyes have won the doubles point in 13 of 16 matches, losing to Vanderbilt, North Carolina and Florida. The squad is 27-12 in doubles this spring. Court two is 11-2, with court three 8-4 and court one 8-6.
• Francesca Di Lorenzo leads the squad with 22 overall wins this year, with Miho Kowase second with 21 wins. Kowase is first with 13 dual match victories, followed by Di Lorenzo with 12 and Sandy Niehaus and Ferny Angeles Paz with 11 each.
• In doubles, Kowase is first with 15 overall wins, followed by Sandy Niehaus with 14. This spring, Di Lorenzo has a team-best 12 doubles victories, with Kowase posting 11. Kowase and Di Lorenzo are first with eight dual match wins as a team.
• Kowase enters the weekend with 98 career wins as a Buckeye.
THE SCHEDULE AHEAD
Ohio State will have a week off before hosting Rutgers at noon and Dayton at 6 p.m. March 31. The weekend ends with a match vs. Maryland at noon April 2. The Big Ten matches are scheduled to be played outside at the Varsity Tennis Courts, with the Dayton match set for inside the Varsity Tennis Center. For match location, check OhioStateBuckeyes.com or the Buckeyes’ social media accounts on match day. Admission to all Buckeye regular season home matches is free.
