NCAA Tournament Opens at Home for No. 4 Buckeyes

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 4 seed Ohio State women's tennis team was selected to host first and second round matches of the 2025 NCAA Championship this weekend in Columbus.

Ohio State will take on Buffalo at 1 p.m. Friday following a first-round match between UIC and Notre Dame at 10 a.m. The first-round winners will face off at 4 p.m. Saturday for a spot in the Super Regionals.

Admission and parking are free to all matches. Play is scheduled to be outdoors in the Auer Tennis Complex and will be inside the Ty Tucker Tennis Center in the case of inclement weather. Match location will be updated on the women's tennis social accounts if necessary. Live results and video can be accessed from the tournament central page HERE.

The Buckeyes are 21-3 after securing the Big Ten Tournament title last weekend in Ojai, Calif., and earning the B1G's automatic spot in the NCAA Championship.

Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament

Ohio State is making the 11th consecutive and 21st overall NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
This is the seventh time overall, and the fifth year in a row, the Buckeyes have been selected to host first and second round matches as a Top 16 seed.
It is the third time the team was seeded among the top four (No. 3 in 2017, No. 4 in 2016).
Ohio State is 10-2 at home in NCAA action. The Buckeyes topped Youngstown State and UCLA in 2016 as the tournament's No. 3 seed and in 2017 defeated Buffalo and Notre Dame when they was seeded fourth. In 2022 as the No. 10 seed, the Buckeyes downed Illinois State before falling to Vanderbilt. The following year, Ohio State was the No. 12 seed and defeated Xavier and Vandy. Last season, Ohio State prevailed over Toledo before falling to Vanderbilt in the second round.
The team's first NCAA appearance was in 1996. The Buckeyes qualified six years in a row from 1999-04, had a three-year stretch from 2008-10 and began the most recent streak in 2014 (with no tournament in 2020).
Under head coach Melissa Schaub, the Buckeyes are 13-10 in NCAA play and have Round of 16/Super Regional (2021, 2023), quarterfinal (2016) and semifinal (2017) appearances.

Buckeyes and the 2025 Columbus Teams

Ohio State is 1-0 against Buffalo with a 4-0 win in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament in Columbus.
Buffalo is 20-7 this year and was 5-5 in MAC play. As the No. 4 seed, the squad claimed the MAC title by beating No. 1 seed Miami (Ohio) and No. 2 Northern Illinois.
Against Notre Dame, Ohio State has won the last five matches, including a 6-1 win earlier this season in South Bend, Ind. The teams last met in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2017 where the Buckeyes secured a 4-0 victory at home.
Ranked 24th, Notre Dame is 20-5 this year and was 9-3 in ACC play. The Irish reached the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, where they lost to NC State. Notre Dame has one ranked singles player, No. 49 Akari Matsuno, and one ranked doubles pair, No. 72 Matsuno and Carrie Beckman.
Ohio State is 1-0 all-time against UIC, with the first meeting in the 2021 NCAA Tournament when the Buckeyes defeated the Flames 4-0 in Columbus.
UIC is 17-4 on the year, posting a 7-1 record in the MVC. The Flames claimed their first MVC tournament title with a shutout of Murray State in the final.

In the Rankings

Ohio State moved up to No. 4 in the ITA team rankings released Thusday. It is the program's first time in the Top 5 since it was No. 4 March 7, 2023.
Five Buckeyes are in the singles rankings: No. 9 Luciana Perry, No. 22 Teah Chavez (a career high), No. 75 Sydni Ratliff. No. 112 Audrey Spencer and No. 116 Nao Nishino.
In doubles, the duo of Perry and Chavez is No. 22. Spencer and Nishino are ranked No. 75, the first time in the national rankings for the tandem and Nishino's first time in the doubles rankings.

Big Ten Tourney Champs

Ohio State claimed the 2025 Big Ten Tournament Saturday in Ojai, Calif.
Ohio State's run to the title included a 4-0 win over Illinois and 4-1 victory against Washington before defeating Michigan 4-3 in the final.
The tournament title was the fourth in Buckeye history (2016, '17, 21). Ohio State was playing in the Big Ten Tournament final for the fifth year in a row, all against the Wolverines, and making the ninth appearance in the final for the program.
Sydni Ratliff and Luciana Perry were both 3-0 in singles in the tournament and 2-1 in doubles. Ratliff was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player and was joined by Perry on the all-tournament team.
In the final vs. the Wolverines, the Buckeyes dropped the doubles point to start the match. Perry and Teah Chavez, on courts two and one, respectively, put Ohio State ahead with straight-set wins. After Michigan posted two more singles wins for a 3-2 lead, Ratliff tied the match with a three-set win, leaving the championship to be decided in a third set on court four between freshmen Nao Nishino of Ohio State and Michigan's Emily Sartz-Lunde. Nishino lost the first set in a tiebreaker and won the second in a tiebreaker, including saving a match point. In the third set, Nishino prevailed 6-4 to clinch the match and the team title.

Buckeye This and That

In singles, Luciana Perry leads the Buckeyes with a 31-7 ledger overall and she has a 16-3 dual mark. Shelly Bereznyak is 26-8 overall and has posted a 15-4 dual ledger. Nao Nishino is 25-7 overall as a freshman, with a 13-2 dual mark. Teah Chavez (24-8, 13-7 in dual play), Sydni Ratliff (21-9, 14-3) and Audrey Spencer (21-14, 13-8) have all posted at least 20 wins on the year.
In double, the duo of Chavez and Perry is first with a 14-6 dual mark, followed by Nishino and Spencer who are 11-2.
As a team, Ohio State concluded the regular season with an 18-3 record and was 12-1 in B1G play. The team shut out seven teams in B1G action, with its one league loss to regular season champion Michigan.
The squad is now 21-3, the fifth consecutive season with at least 20 wins and the eighth time overall under head coach Melissa Schaub.
Chavez and Perry were both unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selections and Nishino was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Alessia Cau received the B1G Sportsmanship Award for Ohio State.
Schaub, in her 13th year as head coach of the Buckeyes, is 258-84 in her career, the Buckeyes' all-time leader in coaching wins.
Eight Buckeyes were recognized as Ohio State Scholar-Athletes this spring –Cau, Spencer, Dani Schoenly, Megan Basil, Nishino, Bereznyak, Ratliff and Chavez.
Ratliff was also the recipient of a Woody and Anne Hayes Award for postgraduate studies at the Scarlet and Graymies Awards.

The Schedule Ahead

The winner of the Columbus site will advance to a single-elimination super regional against the winner of the regional hosted by No. 13 seed LSU, played at the highest remaining seed May 9.
The final three rounds of the tournament will be held May 15-18 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.

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