No. 12 Buckeyes Host No. 5 Duke in Home Opener Friday
1/29/2020 5:25:38 PM | Women's Tennis
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 12-ranked Ohio State women’s tennis team opens its home slate at 5 p.m. Friday against No. 5 Duke. The match will be played at the Varsity Tennis Center (880 West Henderson Road), with free admission.
No. 12 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Duke: Live Video | Live Scoring
The Buckeyes are 2-0 after notching two wins in Stillwater, Okla., for ITA Kickoff Weekend, while Duke is 4-0, including two ITA Kickoff Weekend victories. The teams met last season at the ITA Team Indoor Championship, a 4-3 Blue Devil victory. Friday will be the first match between the teams in Columbus. The squads have met four times in Durham and have three neutral site matchups.
In the Rankings
As a team, Ohio State moved from No. 25 in the ITA rankings to No. 12 after downing then-No. 24 Wake Forest and then-No. 10 Oklahoma State last weekend. In the first Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25, the Buckeyes are ranked 11th. Duke is fifth in the ITA poll and fourth in the USTA rankings.
Last Time Out
The Buckeyes are coming off wins over No. 24 Wake Forest and No. 10 Oklahoma State as part of ITA Kickoff Weekend, clinching a spot in the ITA Team Indoor Championship.
Against Wake Forest, the Buckeyes won 4-0, clinching the doubles point with wins from the duos of Kolie Allen and Isabelle Boulais and Kathleen Jones and Danielle Wolf. Singles points came from Mary Beth Hurley, Fukuda and Boulais, who all won in straight sets. Hurley was victorious against Alexis Franco, 6-2, 6-2 and No. 11-ranked Fukuda defeated Wake Forest’s No. 44-ranked Carolyn Campana, 6-2, 6-4. Boulais took down Saby Nihalani, 7-5, 7-5, breaking for a 6-5 lead and serving out the second set for the win.
The Buckeyes beat No. 10-ranked and host Oklahoma State in a tight 4-3 win. After dropping the doubles point, with a tiebreaker loss on the deciding court, Ohio State secured the team victory with singles wins from Wolf, No. 125 Allen, No. 58 Irina Cantos Siemers and Fukuda. Wolf topped No. 92-ranked Ayumi Miyamoto in straight sets to put the Buckeyes on the board and tie the match at one. Cantos Siemers and Allen both won in three sets. The Cowgirls won the next two matches (again in three sets), leaving court one as the deciding match. Fukuda won the matchup vs. No. 16 Lisa Marie Rioux, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to clinch the team victory.
Buckeye Leaders
Shiori Fukuda is leading the Buckeyes in singles on the season, with a 17-4 overall record She was the lone Buckeye to win both singles matches last weekend.
In doubles, Danielle Wolf is first with eight overall doubles wins, followed by Fukuda with seven. Wolf and Kathleen Jones led the squad last weekend with two doubles victories in Stillwater.
Back to Back
Shiori Fukuda claimed the first two Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors this season. She was first recognized after going 4-0 at the Michigan Invite, including two ranked singles wins and two doubles victories. Last week, she notched two wins over Top 50 foes on court one at ITA Kickoff Weekend, including the match clinching point vs. Oklahoma State.
Up Next
The Buckeyes will compete in the ITA Team Indoor Championship Feb. 7-10 in Chicago at the XS Tennis Village. The championship will be hosted by Illinois and have free admission. Along with host Illinois, the Buckeyes will be joined by Stanford, Texas, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, Michigan, North Carolina State, Pepperdine, UCLA, Princeton, Florida State and Georgia. The tournament will be single-elimination but each team is guaranteed three matches.
The Buckeyes will be making their fifth appearance at the ITA Team Indoor Championship. The 2019 team lost to Duke in a heartbreaker, 4-3, in the Round of 16, and defeated Syracuse with the schedule shortened to two matches because of inclement weather. In 2017, Ohio State was the No. 6 seed and beat Auburn and Oklahoma State before falling to No. 2 North Carolina. In 2016, the Buckeyes topped Fresno State and No. 1 ranked Vanderbilt before falling to California in the semifinals. The 2001 team was the first to be invited and lost to Pepperdine and Oklahoma State before a win over UCLA.
