Ohio State heads to Seattle for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship
2/7/2019 7:46:25 PM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 7, 2019
Coach Schaub, Allen and Boulais preview the ITA National Indoor Championship | Tournament Central
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 16-ranked Ohio State women’s tennis team (3-1, 0-0 B1G) travels to The University of Washington for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship this weekend. The Buckeyes will open play vs. No. 4 Duke at noon ET Friday at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
Live scoring (and live video when available) for the event is HERE.
Sixteen of the top Division I women’s tennis teams will compete for an indoor national championship at both the Nordstrom Tennis Center and Seattle Tennis Club. The four-day event begins Friday and concludes Monday
Each team is guaranteed at least three matches in the tournament. The winner of the matchup between the Buckeyes and No. 3 seed Duke will advance to play the winner of the match between No. 6 seed Pepperdine and Syracuse in the quarterfinals Saturday. Semifinals are set for Sunday, with the final slated for Monday.
The tournament includes eight seeded teams: No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 North Carolina, No 3. Duke, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Pepperdine, No. 7 UCLA and No. 8 Vanderbilt. The other teams in the tournament in addition to the Buckeyes are LSU, Northwestern, NC State, Washington, Syracuse, South Carolina and Oklahoma State.
The Oracle ITA Division I National Women’s Team Indoor Championship is in its 32nd year of existence. Fifteen teams qualified for the event by winning their respective 2019 ITA Kick-Off Weekend four-team regional, while Washington received an automatic bid for serving as the host site.
Buckeyes Headed to ITA National Team Indoors for Fourth Time
This marks the Buckeyes’ fourth appearance in the event. In 2016, the Buckeyes defeated the No. 1 ranked and defending NCAA champion Vanderbilt, 4-3. The team’s run at the Championship ended on day three with a 4-3 loss to No. 6 ranked and No. 4 seed California.
In 2017, the squad was seeded No. 6 and was 2-1 in New Haven, Conn., defeating No. 14 ranked Auburn and No. 5 ranked Oklahoma State, before falling to No. 2 ranked and No. 2 seed UNC.
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 Blue Devils
No. 4 Duke is 5-0 to start the campaign, coming off a two-win weekend vs. Illinois and Michigan State. Previously, Duke hosted the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, where it beat Gonzaga and Old Dominion (4-0) to advance to the ITA Team Indoor National Championship.
The squad features four ranked singles players and one ranked doubles tandem. Meible Chi jumped two spots on the list to No. 8, followed by Maria Mateas (No. 11), Kelly Chen (No. 21) and Kaitlyn McCarthy (No. 100). The doubles ranked team is comprised of Mateas and Margaryta Bilokin at No. 30.
Last Time Out
The Buckeyes topped Notre Dame Sunday in Columbus, 6-1.
Against the Fighting Irish, Ohio State claimed the doubles point. Sophomore Luna Dormet was the first Buckeye off the singles courts, dropping just two games to claim the second point for Ohio State. Shiori Fukuda stepped off court two shortly after with a straight sets win, 6-0, 7-5. Mary Beth Hurley clinched the match by defeating the Fighting Irish on court six, posting the Buckeyes’ fourth team point while the teams played out the remaining three courts.
Rankings Update
In the second Oracle/ITA individual rankings of 2019, sophomore Luna Dormet checks in at No. 99 in singles. In doubles, two Buckeye pairs made their way on the list. Isabelle Boulais and Shiori Fukuda are at No. 29 and Fukuda also pairs with Dormet at No. 36.
The fourth set of team rankings was released last week, with Ohio State at No. 16. New ITA team rankings will be released next week after national indoors.
The Buckeyes were also ranked No. 13 in the USTA Top 25 rankings this week.
Buckeye Leaders
Dormet leads the Buckeyes with 14 singles wins on the year and freshman Kolie Allen is first on the team with four dual match victories. Danielle Wolf and Mary Beth Hurley are tied for second with 11 victories on the year.
In doubles, Fukuda is first with 12 wins followed by Dormet. The tandem of Fukuda and Isabelle Boulais has a team-best six victories overall, while simultaneously leading the team with three dual match victories.
Up Next
The Buckeyes will return home to face two instate foes Feb. 20, taking on Cleveland State at 10 a.m. and Akron at 6 p.m. Admission for both home matches, held inside the Varsity Tennis Center, is free.
