No. 5 Ohio State Hosts B1G Tournament This Week

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 5 Ohio State women's tennis team is set to host 12 teams in the 2026 Big Ten Tournament this week at the Auer Tennis Complex in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes are the defending tournament co-champion and clinched a share of the 2026 regular season title, along with the No. 1 seed in the tournament, over the weekend.

The Buckeyes earned a first-round bye and will begin play in the quarterfinals against the winner of a match between No. 9 seed Nebraska and No. 8 Illinois at 9 a.m. Friday. The winner of that match will play in a semifinal at 11 a.m. Saturday. The championship match is set for noon Sunday.

All matches will be streamed through B1G+ and live statistics will be available. Admission and parking are free. In the event of inclement weather, play will be moved inside the Ty Tucker Tennis Center. Tournament Central

Ohio State is 21-3 this season and was 12-1 in the Big Ten.

Buckeyes and the Big Ten Tournament

The Buckeyes have four B1G Tournament titles, winning in 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2025.
In the tournament last year in Ojai, Calif., the Buckeyes defeated Illinois (4-0), Washington (4-1) and Michigan (4-3) to claim the title.
After three straight years as the No. 2 seed, Ohio State is the No. 1 seed this season. The squad has been among the Top 4 seeds each tournament since 2014.
As the No. 1 seed, the Buckeyes won the tournament title in 2016, 2017 and 2021, finishing as the runner-up as the No. 1 seed in 2022.
All-time, the Buckeyes have reached the championship match of the Big Ten Tournament nine times (2004, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025).
The Buckeyes defeated possible quarterfinal opponent Nebraska on the road this season, 4-1, April 3 and did not face Illinois in the regular season.
Five Big Ten teams are ranked in the Top 25 this week – No. 5 Ohio State, No. 12 USC, No. 18 Michigan, No. 19 UCLA and No. 23 Washington, with Wisconsin just outside at No. 27.
The Buckeyes, Wolverines and Trojans shared the regular season title with matching 12-1 B1G marks. Ohio State defeated Michigan, the Wolverines downed USC and the Trojans beat the Buckeyes. The Scarlet and Gray earned the No. 1 seed based on tiebreakers.
The last time the Big Ten Tournament was in Columbus was in 2012. The Buckeyes defeated Penn State in the first round 4-2 before falling to Northwestern in the semifinals. Purdue claimed the tournament title, topping Michigan, 4-3.
The Top 12 teams in the Big Ten standings earn a spot in the league tournament. The tournament starts with four first round matches and the Top 4 seeds earn a bye into the quarterfinals. Ohio State is the No. 1 seed, with USC No. 2, Michigan No. 3 and UCLA No. 4.

Big Ten Champs!

The Buckeyes won the Big Ten regular season championship with a 12-1 conference record, with the lone loss on the road at USC.
It was the sixth year in a row Ohio State dropped one or fewer matches during Big Ten play.
The title is considered Ohio State's fifth by the Big Ten, along with 2016, 2017 (co), 2021 (co) and 2022.
The Buckeyes won the Big Ten regular season title in 2000 with a 9-1 regular season record; at that time, the tournament winner was considered the Big Ten champion. Since 2009, the regular season winner is declared the Big Ten champion.
Ohio State won six unofficial Big Ten championships from 1974-79 when women's tennis was not a sport sponsored by the Big Ten.

In the Rankings

The Buckeyes are ranked fifth in the ITA team rankings this week, their 11th straight week in the Top 5, reaching as high as No. 2
The squad started the season No. 13 and was No. 12 in the second poll, moving to No. 10 Jan. 28.
In the new singles rankings, Luciana Perry and Teah Chavez remained in the Top 5 at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. It is the seventh straight release Ohio State has had two of the nation's Top 5 ranked singles players.
Earlier this season, Chavez and Perry became the second and third Buckeyes to earn a spot in the singles Top 3, joining Francesca Di Lorenzo, who was as high as No. 1 in 2016 and '17. Chavez has been as high as No. 2, with Perry reaching No. 3.
Perry has been in the Top 10 since Dec. 20, 2024 and Chavez has been in the Top 20 since the final rankings of 2025.
This week, Nao Nishino is ranked 76th and Audrey Spencer is No. 122 in singles, with Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev back in the rankings at No. 124.
In doubles, the tandem of Hephzibah Oluwadare and Chavez is 27th this week, with the duo of Flora Johnson and Perry 32nd. Spencer and Nishino are No. 82.
Thirteen teams the Buckeyes have faced this season were ranked in the Top 25 at the time of the match, including three in the Top 5. This week, five Buckeye opponents are in the Top 10 - No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 7 Virginia, and No. 10 NC State.

Buckeye This and That

Ohio State is 21-3 on the year and enters the Big Ten Tournament on a 10-match winning streak. The Buckeyes have 10 shutout victories this season, including in four of the last five matches.
This is the sixth year in a row, and the ninth time in program history, the Buckeyes have reached the 20-win mark.
Last week, the Buckeyes wrapped up the regular season with home wins over Oregon (4-0) and then-No. 22 Washington (4-2).
The Buckeyes were 12-1 in Big Ten matches, with home wins over Michigan, Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland, Oregon and Washington and road wins at Penn State, UCLA, Nebraska, Iowa, Purdue and Indiana, with the loss at USC.
In dual matches, Audrey Spencer and Teah Chavez are both 14-1, with Nao Nishino 13-5 and Luciana Perry 11-3.
Nishino was a team-best 8-1 in B1G matches, while Alessia Cau was 7-1. Chavez had a 6-1 B1G ledger, Cisse-Ignatiev was 6-2 and Perry and Spencer were each 5-1.
Overall, Nishino has a team-best 27 victories this year, with Spencer and Chavez next with 20 each, followed by Perry with 19.
As a team, the Buckeyes are 76-23 in singles in dual matches. The squad is 16-2 on court four, 15-3 on court two, 13-5 on court six, 12-1 on court one, 11-3 on court five and 9-9 on court three.
The Buckeyes have won the doubles point in the last 10 matches. The tandem of Flora Johnson and Perry leads Ohio State with a 12-2 mark this spring. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Spencer are 9-3 in dual play. Courts one and three each have 12 wins in dual play and court two has posted 11 victories this spring.
The ITA announced Ohio State will serve as a host school for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in both 2027 and 2028. A joint host with Michigan, both schools will host opening rounds of play each year. Michigan will host the semifinals and final in 2027 and Ohio State will host the semifinals and final in 2028. Host schools are automatically in the 16-team tournament field.

Up Next

The winner of the Big Ten Tournament will earn the conference's automatic berth into the 64-team NCAA Championship.
The tournament field will be announced on NCAA.com at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
The first and second rounds will take place May 2-3 with the Top 16 seeds as host sites. The super regional round is May 8-9 on campus sites.
The final three rounds will be held May 15-17 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.

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