Oct. 25, 2012

Tournament Central

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team will continue its fall campaign Friday through Sunday at the Lady Vols Fall Invite in Knoxville, Tenn. The Buckeyes will join Kentucky, North Carolina State and host Tennessee for the weekend.

Tournament Basics
The Lady Vols Fall Invite will be played as a quad meet. Teams, playing like a dual match, will face off against one team in singles and another in doubles that same day. Line ups will be set for each team prior to the start of each day. A tournament winner will be determined by a points system, based on singles and doubles wins for each team.

A tournament central page will be available on the women’s tennis page on utsports.com and updates will be on Twitter @voltennis_event.

Ohio State Schedule
Friday Doubles vs. Kentucky, 1 p.m.
Singles vs. North Carolina State, 4 p.m.

Saturday
Doubles vs. Tennessee, TBA
Singles vs. Kentucky, TBA

Sunday
Doubles vs. North Carolina State, 10 a.m.
Singles vs. Tennessee, 1 p.m.

Follow Along
Stay connected with the Buckeyes on Twitter @OhioState_WTEN or on Facebook at facebook.com/OhioState_WTEN.

A UT Connection
Ohio State head coach Melissa Schaub is a 2006 graduate of Tennessee. She played four years for the Volunteers, where she was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally in doubles and the squad reaching the No. 4 spot in the national polls during her career. Schaub was an All-American and second team All-SEC selection for the Vols.

Last Time Out
The Buckeyes are coming off a solid showing at the 2012 USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships. Sophomore Kelsey Dieters and senior Kara Cecil reached the quarterfinals of the doubles draw, while Fidan Manashirova advanced to the round of 16 in singles play.

Overall, the Buckeyes posted five qualifying singles wins with redshirt freshman Nicole Flower earning a spot in the singles main draw. The team also notched three doubles main draw and three singles main draw victories.

Against the Vols Last Year
During the 2011-12 season, the Buckeyes faced the Volunteers in Columbus, Ohio. Tennessee edged Ohio State, 4-3, winning the doubles point and the top three singles matches to earn the win. Ohio State captured the lower three singles decisions in straight sets.

Against Kentucky
The Buckeyes faced the Wildcats earlier this season during the Muirfield Collegiate Tennis Invitational in Columbus, Ohio.

Senior Gabrielle Steele defeated Caitlin McGraw (UK), 7-5, 6-1, in the round of 16 of main draw singles play. In the singles backdraw, Malley defeated Kentucky's Stephanie Fox in a super tiebreaker after losing the first set (5-7, 6-4, 10-7).

The Buckeye tandem of Noelle Malley and Kelsey Becker fell to Kentucky’s Caitlin McGraw and Kirsten Lewis in a 9-8 (7-4) super tiebreaker. McGraw and Lewis then faced Manashirova and Steele, who defeated the Wildcats 8-4 in the quarterfinals.

Ohio State and Kentucky have met in dual matches 19 times. The last matchup was Feb. 9, 2011, a 4-3 Buckeye win on the road.

Against NC State
Ohio State and North Carolina State have met once, when Ohio State posted a 7-2 victory in Raleigh, N.C., March 23, 1991.

Up Next
The Buckeyes will conclude their fall campaign in Tempe, Ariz. at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational Nov. 9-11.