Buckeyes Head to ITA Indoors as No. 5 Seed

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 10 Ohio State women's tennis team is headed to Illinois for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. The tournament features 16 teams split into two sites for the opening rounds Friday through Sunday. Ohio State is the No. 5 seed in Champaign, Ill. Two semifinalists will advance from each site, with Northwestern hosting the semifinals Monday and the final Tuesday.

The Buckeyes (2-0) will take on No. 4 seed Duke (5-0) at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday. The winner will go up against the winner of a match between No. 1 North Carolina and No. 8 Illinois at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday, with the losers of the two matches meeting in a consolation match at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday. Each team is guaranteed at least three matches. Consolation matches will be held Sunday at the opening round sites, with the semifinalists off Sunday before returning to action Monday.

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Ohio State at National Indoors

The Buckeyes are making their 10th appearance at National Indoors and their seventh in the last eight years.
Ohio State had a streak of six straight trips (2019-24) end last season. The Buckeyes' first appearance was in 2001 and the squad also qualified in 2016 and '17.
A 4-0 win over Iowa in the Columbus ITA Kickoff Weekend championship match clinched the Buckeyes' spot at Indoors this year.
The Buckeyes reached the semifinals in 2016 in Madison, Wis., and in 2017 in New Haven, Conn.
The squad's last trip was in 2024, with a 1-2 mark in Seattle. That year, the Buckeyes opened with a 4-3 win over Georgia before a 4-1 loss to Stanford and 4-3 loss to Texas in consolation.
Against Duke, the Buckeyes are 3-8 all-time. Ohio State won the last two matches, with a 4-3 win on the road in 2025 and a 4-0 victory at home in 2024. The teams are set to also meet in Columbus March 22.
Ohio State is looking for its first win over North Carolina (0-5), with the last meeting a 4-1 loss Feb. 11, 2022 at ITA Indoors. The Buckeyes are 23-33 all-time vs. Illinois but have won nine of the last 10 meetings between the teams, including a 4-1 regular season road win and 4-0 Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal victory in Ojai, Calif., last season..
The other teams in Champaign are No. 2 seed Oklahoma, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 6 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Texas.
The teams in Evanston for the opening round are No. 1 seed Auburn, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 5 NC State, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 7 Virginia and No. 8 Northwestern.

In the Rankings

The Buckeyes moved up to No. 10 in the ITA Coaches Poll last week. The squad started at No. 13 and was No. 12 in the second poll. (There were no new team rankings this week.)
Singles and doubles rankings were released Wednesday for the first time in 2026.
In singles, Luciana Perry is a personal-best No. 3. She is just the second Buckeye to be ranked in the Top 3, joining Francesca Di Lorenzo, who was as high as No. 1 in 2016 and '17.
Teah Chavez is 13th, her third straight ranking in the Top 15.
Nao Nishino is No. 52, a personal best, with Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev No. 114.
In doubles, the tandem of Hephzibah Oluwadare and Chavez entered the rankings at No. 13. They are the eighth Buckeye duo to earn a spot in the Top 15.
Chavez and Perry have been ranked as a twosome since last February and are currently No. 36.
Flora Johnson and Perry are No. 55, with Nishino and Audrey Spencer No. 60 and Johnson and Nishino No. 89.

Buckeye This and That

Ohio State is 2-0 on the year, with 4-0 home wins over Iowa on ITA Kickoff Weekend and No. 15 Virginia last Sunday.
Nao Nishino, who won the ITA Midwest Region singles title in the fall, is a team-best 16-4 overall in singles this year, with a 2-0 dual mark.
Freshman Flora Johnson is 2-0 in dual play, including providing the clinching point against Iowa in her first dual match.
Luciana Perry earned her third All-America honor in the fall. She is 9-2 overall in 2025-26 and clinched last week's victory over Virginia.
In doubles, the tandem of Teah Chavez and Hephzibah Oluwadare is 2-0 in dual action, including a Top 10 win last week against the Cavaliers. They are 5-0 overall as a duo.
Flora Johnson and Perry also notched a Top 10 win against Virginia last week, clinching the doubles point.

Up Next

The Buckeyes' next home match is against No. 9 NC State at 6 p.m. Feb. 13 in the Ty Tucker Tennis Center. Admission and parking are free.
The squad will then play at Penn State at 11 a.m. Feb. 15 in University Park, Pa.

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