No. 13 Buckeyes Set to Host ITA Kickoff Weekend Matches

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 13-ranked Ohio State women's tennis team opens its home slate when it hosts ITA Kickoff Weekend matches in the Ty Tucker Tennis Center. Admission and parking are free to all matches.

Friday, the first round features the Buckeyes (1-1) vs. Notre Dame (2-0) at 10 a.m. and Kansas (0-0) vs. Arizona State (3-0) at 1 p.m., with championship and consolation matches Saturday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. The site winner will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship Feb. 9-12 in Seattle.

Video and live scoring is available online HERE. In addition, Cracked Racquets will be providing play-by-play commentary from Columbus and other sites on its YouTube stream. The live stream will focus on broadcasting the most exciting moments of each match from the sites they are covering.

Ohio State and ITA Kickoff Weekend

This is the 14th time Ohio State will compete in ITA Kickoff Weekend (previously known as the ITA National Indoor Qualifier).
Ohio State has won two ITA Kickoff Weekend matches to reach the ITA Team Indoor Championship seven times in the last eight years, including each of the last five seasons.
All-time, the Buckeyes are 17-9 in kickoff weekend matches, with a 9-1 mark at home.
This is the sixth time the Buckeyes are hosting Kickoff Weekend matches; the team was a host site in 2017, '18, '21, '22 and '23. Columbus is one of 15 women's host sites around the country this year.
Each season, the ITA Kickoff Weekend field is determined by the ITA Kickoff Weekend Draft which is held in the summer months after the dual-match season. The Top 15 ranked teams in the final ITA Rankings of the season will automatically serve as hosts. In the draft, teams and coaches have the opportunity to choose where they would like to play. The picks start with the No. 16 ranked team and conclude with the No. 60 ranked team (or until all 60 spots are filled).
The Buckeyes hosted the last three seasons. Last year, Ohio State prevailed over Old Dominion 4-0 and Tennessee 4-2. In 2022, Ohio State defeated Oklahoma State 4-1 and Tennessee 4-0 to advance to National Indoors. In 2021, Ohio State was 2-0 in Columbus, topping Syracuse 4-0 and Virginia 4-2.
In 2020, the Buckeyes won the Stillwater, Okla., site, defeating Wake Forest, 4-0, in the first round and host Oklahoma State, 4-3, in the championship match to clinch a spot at ITA National Indoors. In 2019, the Buckeyes traveled to Atlanta with Georgia Tech as the site host. Ohio State opened its dual match season with a 4-0 victory against the Yellow Jackets and then downed Kentucky, 4-1, to advance.
Ohio State was a 2018 Kickoff Weekend site. The Buckeyes defeated Kansas, 4-1, in the first round before a 4-2 loss to Wake Forest in the championship match. The Buckeyes advanced in 2017 with 4-0 wins over Florida State and Alabama in Columbus.
The 2016 Buckeyes beat Pepperdine and TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, to earn a spot at National Indoors for the second time in program history.
The Buckeyes' other ITA Kickoff Weekend results include going 1-1 at Duke in 2009 and at Fresno State in 2010 and dropping two matches at Tennessee in 2011, at Florida State in 2012 and at Miami in 2014.

Ohio State vs. the Columbus Regional Teams

Ohio State and Notre Dame have met 23 times, including each year from 1998-2010, with the Irish ahead 18-6.
The teams last met in Columbus in 2019, a 6-1 Buckeye victory.
All-time, Ohio State is 4-0 vs. Kansas.
The Buckeyes and Jayhawks last met in 2018, when they faced off in Columbus in an ITA Kickoff Weekend first round match. Ohio State prevailed, 4-1.
Ohio State is 7-1 all-time against Arizona State, including 4-0 in Columbus. Last season, the teams met on Ohio State's home courts, with the Buckeyes posting a 5-2 win. The squads met six years in a row, with the last match in that stretch a 5-0 Ohio State win in Columbus Feb. 23, 2020.
The Buckeyes and Sun Devils will meet in Tempe, Ariz., later this season. The first match was an Arizona State home win in 1990.

Columbus Regional Ranked Players
Singles
No. 15 Irina Cantos Siemers (Ohio State)
No. 61 Giulia Morlet (Arizona State
No. 68 Emilija Tverijonaite (Arizona State)
No. 85 Luciana Perry (Ohio State)
No. 110 Gracie Mulville (Kansas)

Doubles
No. 17 Irina Cantos Siemers/Sydni Ratliff (Ohio State)
No. 21 Irina Cantos Siemers/Luciana Perry (Ohio State)
No. 31 Julia Andreach/Carrie Beckman (Notre Dame)
No. 47 Marianna Argyrokastriti/Patricija Spaka (Arizona State)
No. 54 Bojana Pozder/Maira Olivia Castedo (Notre Dame)

Buckeye This and That

Ohio State has two players ranked in singles and two ranked doubles teams in the ITA rankings.
Irina Cantos Siemers is No. 15 in singles, with Luciana Perry No. 85. In doubles, Cantos Siemers pairs with Sydni Ratliff as the No. 17-ranked team and Cantos Siemers and Perry are No. 21.
Eight non-conference opponents on the Buckeye schedule were ranked in the ITA Top 25 to start the year.
Ohio State opened the year with two road matches. The squad rallied for a 4-3 win over then-No. 13 Oklahoma Friday before falling to No. 5 Oklahoma State, 4-1, Sunday.
Against the Sooners, Sydni Ratliff, Irina Cantos Siemers, Audrey Spencer and Luciana Perry all posted singles wins for the comeback victory. Against the Cowgirls, the Buckeyes claimed the doubles point, with wins from Cantos Siemers/Spencer and Perry/Ratliff. Perry and Ratliff defeated the No. 6-ranked team from OSU.
Cantos Siemers picked up her 100th career singles win in the fall, becoming one of just five Buckeyes with triple-digit victories. She now has 109 total singles wins, three shy of the program record 112 recorded by Miho Kowase from 2014-17. Her 192 combined singles/doubles wins rank fifth all-time, with Kowase first (213). Monica Rincon (1999-02) is fourth with 193, Kristy Dascoli (1998-01) is third with 194 and Sandy Niehaus (2014-17) is second all-time with 204.
Ohio State was 22-8 last season, finishing second in the Big Ten regular season and as the runner-up in the conference tournament. The Buckeyes were the No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosted NCAA first and second round matches, posting two wins to advance to the Super Regionals, where they fell to Stanford.

The Schedule Ahead

Next up, Ohio State will host No. 15 Duke Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. and No. 12 UCLA at 1 p.m. Feb. 4.
From February through April, the Buckeyes will host nine regular season matches in Columbus, with seven road matches on the slate. FULL SCHEDULE
Admission and parking are free for all regular season matches in the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.

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