No. 3 Ohio State Set for NCAA Tournament

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 3 seed and No. 4 ranked Ohio State women's tennis team will host NCAA Championship first and second round matches this weekend. Admission and parking are free, with matches scheduled to be played outside at the Auer Tennis Complex. In the event of inclement weather, play will be moved inside the Ty Tucker Tennis Center. Video and Live Results

Saturday in the first round, Ohio State will take on Youngstown State at 1 p.m., preceded by a neutral site match between Notre Dame and Arizona at 10 a.m. Sunday, the first round winners will meet at noon for a spot in the Super Regional round (May 9).

The Buckeyes are 23-4 on the year, with the Penguins 12-11, Wildcats 20-9 and Irish 18-9.

Ohio State and the NCAA Tournament

Ohio State is making the 12th consecutive and 22nd overall NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
This is the eighth time overall, and the sixth year in a row, the Buckeyes have been selected to host first and second round matches as a Top 16 seed.
It is the fourth time the team was seeded among the top four (No. 3 in 2017, No. 4 in 2016 and 2025).
Ohio State is 12-3 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 were 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. The 2024 season saw Ohio State prevail over Toledo before falling to Vanderbilt in the second round. As the No. 3 seed last year, the Buckeyes defeated Buffalo and Notre Dame and dropped their Super Regional match to LSU.
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 15-11 in NCAA play and have Round of 16/Super Regional (2021, 2023, 2025), quarterfinal (2016) and semifinal (2017) appearances.

Buckeyes vs. the Columbus Teams

Ohio State and Youngstown State have met six times, with the last meeting a doubleheader sweep by the Buckeyes in Columbus in 2019. The Buckeyes are 6-0 vs. the Penguins, including a 4-0 NCAA first round win in 2016.
Youngstown State, 12-11 this season (3-2 Horizon) and making its ninth NCAA appearance, earned the Horizon League's automatic berth after a 4-1 win over Cleveland State in the conference tournament final.
The lone meeting between the Buckeyes and Arizona was a Wildcat win at home in 1990.
Arizona, 20-9 on the year, is ranked 27th by the ITA this week and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, marking its third straight appearance. The squad was 10-3 in Big 12 play and reached the second round of the conference tournament.
Ohio State and the Irish have met 28 times, with the series dating to 1985, and Ohio State has won the last six matches. Last season, Ohio State defeated Notre Dame twice, including in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, a 4-1 Buckeye win. The teams also met in Columbus in the 2017 NCAA Tournament second round, a 4-0 Ohio State victory.
The Irish, making a fourth straight NCAA trip, are 18-9 this season (5-7 ACC) and posted two wins in the ACC Tournament to reach the quarterfinals.
Notre Dame is No. 35 in the ITA rankings this week. Bianca Molnar is 70th in singles and she and Bojana Pozder are No. 45 in the doubles rankings, with Gabriella Rawles and Rylie Hanford No. 69.

In the Rankings

The Buckeyes are ranked fourth in the ITA team rankings this week, their 12th 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 eighth 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. 123 in singles.
In doubles, the duo of Flora Johnson and Perry is a season-best 23rd, with the tandem of Hephzibah Oluwadare and Chavez 34th and Spencer and Nishino No. 85.
Fourteen 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, eight Buckeye opponents are in the Top 15 - No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 5 North Carolina, No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 NC State, No. 11 Pepperdine, No. 12 Michigan, No. 13 USC and No. 15 Duke.

The Buckeyes and the B1G

The Buckeyes won the Big Ten regular season championship with a 12-1 conference record, with the lone loss on the road at USC.
Last week, the squad reached the final of the Big Ten Tournament in Columbus with wins over Illinois and UCLA. The Buckeyes fell to Michigan in the final, 4-2.
Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Nao Nishino both earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
Ohio State is one of seven Big Ten teams to earn a berth in this year's NCAA Tournament, joined by No. 12 seed Michigan, No. 13 seed USC, Maryland, UCLA, Washington and Wisconsin.
Ohio State captured numerous Big Ten awards last week. Teah Chavez was selected the Big Ten Player of the Year, Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson were co-winners of the inaugural Big Ten Doubles Team of the Year award and Melissa Schaub was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fifth time.
Chavez and Perry were unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selections for the second year in a row and Perry is now a three-time honoree. Cisse-Ignatiev, Nishino and Audrey Spencer were all selected Second Team All-Big Ten and Hephzibah Oluwadare was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Megan Basil was recognized with the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for Ohio State.

Buckeye This and That

Ohio State is 23-4 on the year and had a 12-match winning streak end in the Big Ten Tournament final. The Buckeyes have 11 shutout victories this season, including in five of the last eight matches.
This is the sixth year in a row, and the ninth time in program history, the Buckeyes have reached the 20-win mark. The 23 wins this year are tied for the third-most in school history (2021, 2025). The 2017 team ranks first with 32 wins and the 2016 squad recorded 31 victories.
In dual matches, Audrey Spencer (15-2), Teah Chavez (15-3) and Nao Nishino (15-5) have all recorded 15 wins this spring.
Overall, Nishino has a team-best 29 victories this year, with Luciana Perry, Spencer and Chavez each notching 21.
As a team, the Buckeyes are 85-27 in singles in dual matches. The squad is 18-2 on court four, 16-5 on court two, 14-2 on court one and 14-5 on court six, with court five 12-4 and court three 11-9.
The Buckeyes have won the doubles point in 11 of the last 13 matches. The tandem of Flora Johnson and Perry leads Ohio State with a 13-3 mark this spring, while Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Spencer are 10-4 in dual play. Courts one and three each have 13 wins in dual play and court two has posted 12 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 second round winner in Columbus will move on to the Super Regional round. against the second round winner of the Vanderbilt site, with the match on the campus of the highest remaining seed May 9.
The final three rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be held May 15-17 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.

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