No. 10 Buckeyes Set for Big Ten Tournament
4/27/2023 2:17:02 PM | Women's Tennis
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 10-ranked Ohio State women’s tennis team is the No. 2 seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament hosted by Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.
Ohio State (18-6, 10-1 B1G) earned a double bye and will open tournament action at 3 p.m. Friday against the winner of a match between No. 7 seed Purdue and No. 10 Nebraska. That match winner will play in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Saturday and the final is set for noon Sunday. All matches will be streamed through Big Ten Plus and live scoring will be available.
Big Ten Tournament Central (bracket, live scoring and video links)
Buckeyes and the Big Ten Tournament
- Ohio State has won the Big Ten Tournament title three times, in 2016, 2017 and 2021.
- Ohio State is the No. 2 seed this season and has been a Top 4 seed each year since 2014.
- Last year, the No. 1-seeded Buckeyes posted 4-0 wins over Minnesota and Wisconsin before falling to No. 2 Michigan, 4-0, in the tournament final.
- All-time, the Buckeyes have reached the championship match of the Big Ten Tournament six times (2004, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022).
In the Quarterfinals
Ohio State vs. Nebraska
- The Buckeyes are 11-7 all-time vs. Nebraska, with a 9-3 mark since the Huskers joined the Big Ten.
- After three straight matchups in Lincoln, Neb., the squads met in Columbus earlier this month, with the Buckeyes posting a 4-0 win.
- The No. 60-ranked Huskers are 15-9 overall and were 4-7 in Big Ten play.
- The tandem of Samantha Alicea and Raphaelle Lacasse is ranked 45th this year.
Ohio State vs. Purdue
- Ohio State is 35-23 all-time vs. Purdue, with wins in the last 12 matches.
- The Buckeyes notched a 4-0 victory against the Boilermakers in Columbus March 24.
- Ohio State last played on Purdue’s home courts April 10, 2022, posting a 4-0 win.
- Purdue, ranked 54th this week, is 15-7 overall and was 6-5 in B1G play.
In the Rankings
- Ohio State is 10th in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings this week. The squad has been in the Top 10 since the start of computer rankings (Feb. 19).
- The Buckeyes have wins against seven teams currently in the Top 25 – No. 3 Georgia, No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Auburn, No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 22 Arizona State. Ohio State dropped matches to No. 2 Texas A&M (twice), No. 4 NC State, No. 5 Michigan (twice) and No. 20 UCLA.
- Three Buckeyes are ranked in singles, along with a doubles tandem. Irina Cantos Siemers is No. 20, Sydni Ratliff is No. 34 and Shelly Bereznyak is No. 94. As a doubles team, Cantos Siemers and Ratliff are ranked 33rd.
Scarlet and Gray Recognized by B1G
- Senior Irina Cantos Siemers was named the 2023 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Big Ten team alongside sophomore Sydni Ratliff. Both were unanimous all-conference selections.
- Sophomore Shelly Bereznyak was recognized with the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for Ohio State.
- Cantos Siemers is the fourth Buckeye to earn B1G Player of the Year honors, joining two-time honorees Kristy Dascoli (2000, ’01) and Francesca Di Lorenzo (2016, ’17) and Shiori Fukuda (2020).
- Cantos Siemers is now a three-time unanimous All-Big Ten selection and Ratliff was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season.
Buckeye This and That
- Ohio State enters the Big Ten Tournament 18-6 overall after 4-0 road wins at Rutgers and Maryland last weekend to close the regular season.
- The squad has a 13-1 home record, is 4-2 on the road and 1-3 on neutral courts.
- The Buckeyes were 10-1 in the Big Ten, behind only undefeated Michigan.
- The only B1G loss of the season for the Buckeyes was to Michigan April 16. It ended a 29-match winning streak for the Buckeyes in Big Ten regular season matches. The streak started March 5, 2021 (following a 4-3 loss to Michigan Feb. 28, 2021). Ohio State was 11-0 in conference play in 2022 and 15-1 in 2021.
- Lucia Marzal leads the Buckeyes with a 15-2 dual match ledger, while Shelly Bereznyak is 13-1 and Irina Cantos Siemers is 13-4.
- In B1G matches, Danielle Willson was a team-best 8-0, with Cantos Siemers 6-0, Marzal 6-1 and Kolie Allen and Bereznyak both 5-0.
- Willson enters the B1G Tournament on a nine-match winning streak in completed matches and Bereznyak and Cantos Siemers have each won six in a row.
- Three Buckeyes have hit the 20-win mark overall – Marzal (22), Sydni Ratliff (21) and Cantos Siemers (20).
- In doubles, the tandem of Allen and Danielle Willson is first for the squad with a 13-3 mark in dual matches, with an 8-1 B1G ledger.
- Allen has a team-high 15 victories in doubles dual action, with Willson second with 13.
- Marzal and Kathleen Jones have been selected for the new NextGen Program in the Ohio State Athletics Department. The full-time, paid opportunity with benefits for graduating student-athletes is designed to provide experience and skill development necessary to position student-athletes to succeed in a career within intercollegiate athletics. Read more about the program HERE.
The Schedule Ahead
- The NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced at 6:30 p.m. Monday on NCAA.com.
- The Top 16 seeds will host first and second round matches on campus sites May 5-6, with the highest eight remaining seeds hosting one-match super regionals May 13. The quarterfinals and beyond will be played in Orlando at the USTA National Campus.
No videos available.
