No. 11 Buckeyes Face Northwestern and Illinois this Weekend

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 11-ranked Ohio State women's tennis team takes on two more Big Ten teams on the road this weekend. The Buckeyes are set to play Northwestern at 5:30 p.m. ET Friday in Evanston, Ill., followed by a match against Illinois at 1 p.m. ET Sunday in Urbana, Ill.

Ohio State currently holds a 13-2 record after victories over then-No. 24 UCLA and then-No. 14 Southern California last weekend, moving the Buckeyes' B1G record to 7-1. Northwestern is 10-10 this spring and Illinois is 9-10 on the year, with 3-5 and 4-4 marks in the B1G, respectively.

Live stats for Friday against the Wildcats will be available HERE with a live stream HERE.
Live stats for Sunday at the Fighting Illini will be available HERE with a live stream HERE.

In the Rankings

The Buckeyes are No. 11 in the ITA rankings released this week.
Five Buckeyes are in the singles rankings: No. 9 Luciana Perry, No. 37 Teah Chavez, No. 85 Sydni Ratliff, No. 102 Audrey Spencer and No. 119 Shelly Bereznyak.
In doubles, the duo of Perry and Chavez is No. 10, its highest ranking to date. They are the sixth Buckeye tandem to earn a spot in the Top 10. Perry has also been ranked as high as fourth with Ratliff.
Ohio State is one of six Big Ten teams ranked in the Top 25, joined by No. 3 Michigan, No. 19 Wisconsin, No. 21 Washington, No. 22 USC and No. 24 UCLA.

Perry Selected B1G Player of the Week

Luciana Perry has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time this season. She was also recognized Oct. 16.
Perry led the Buckeyes to two team ranked wins last week, with a 2-0 singles record against ranked opponents on court two and a ranked win on court one doubles.
She posted a straight set win over No. 78 Kimmi Hance of No. 24 UCLA to put the Buckeyes up 2-0 and then downed No. 69 Emma Charney in straight sets vs. No. 14 USC to provide the clinching point.
Perry and Teah Chavez downed No. 3 Center and Fakih of UCLA in a tiebreaker (7-6 (0)) to clinch the doubles point.
Perry leads the Buckeyes with 24 overall singles wins this year and shares the team lead with 10 dual singles victories. She has 17 overall doubles wins and a team-best 12 in dual play.

Buckeyes vs. Wildcats and Fighting Illini

Ohio State has won the last four matches against Northwestern. The Buckeyes hold a 9-8 record under head coach Melissa Schaub vs. the Wildcats. The programs first met in 1978.
Last season, the Buckeyes defeated the Wildcats twice. In the regular season, Ohio State rallied for a 4-1 victory with four singles wins. Ohio State took on Northwestern again in the Big Ten Tournament, beating the Wildcats 4-1 to advance to the Big Ten championship match.
Northwestern is 10-10 this season with a 3-5 Big Ten record after losses against Michigan State and No. 3 Michigan last weekend.
The Wildcats are ranked No. 44 in the ITA rankings. They have two players ranked in singles: No. 99 Sydney Pratt and No. 122 Erica Jessel.
Ohio State is 21-33 overall against Illinois, winning seven of the last 10 matchups.
The programs last met in 2023 when the Buckeyes defeated Illinois 4-0 in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. The teams first played each other in 1982.
Illinois is 9-10 on the season with a 4-4 Big Ten record. Last week, the Illini lost to No. 3 Michigan before shutting out Michigan State.
The Illini are No. 51 in the ITA rankings this week.

Buckeye This and That

Last week, Ohio State maintained its strong Big Ten record with two home wins against No. 24 UCLA and No. 22 USC, beating both teams 4-1.
The wins brought the Buckeyes to a 7-1 record against Big Ten teams. The team has shutouts against Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State and Rutgers and a 4-1 win over Maryland, with its only loss to Michigan.
Luciana Perry has the most overall singles wins for the Buckeyes with 24, Teah Chavez is close behind at 22 and Shelly Bereznyak is at 21. In dual play, Perry is 10-3, Bereznyak is 10-2, Nao Nishino is 8-2 and Chavez is undefeated at 8-0.
The duo of Chavez and Perry is 11-2 in doubles matches this spring to lead Ohio State. The tandem of Spencer and Nishino is 7-1.
The Buckeyes are currently undefeated on courts two (11-0) and five (9-0) in singles through their first 15 dual matches.
Ohio State has won the doubles point in 12 of 15 matches.

The Schedule Ahead

The Buckeyes will be back at home for a match against Penn State at noon April 12 and for a nonconference match against No. 3 Michigan at 4 p.m. April 16.
All home matches will be slated to play outside at the Auer Tennis Center. In the event of inclement weather, the match will be moved inside the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.
Admission and parking are free for all Ohio State regular season home matches.

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