Ohio State University Team Page
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State women's tennis schedule for 2009-10 includes dual matches with 16 teams who finished last season ranked in the Campbell's/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Top 75, including eight Top 25 programs. The Buckeye slate, which also includes six fall tournaments, features 10 matches in Columbus during the spring dual-match campaign.
Ohio State, which ended 2009 ranked 37th, will hit the courts for the first time Sept. 25-27 in the Cissie Leary Invitational in Philadelphia. The ITA All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and Kentucky Wildcat Fall Invitational in Lexington, Ky., follow Oct. 8-11 and 9-11, respectively. Northwestern will host the ITA Midwest Regional Oct. 22-27 in Evanston, Ill. After an Alumni Match Nov. 1 in Columbus, Ohio State will close out the fall at the Arizona State Thunderbird Nov. 6-8 in Phoenix, Ariz., and the ITA National Indoors Nov. 5-8 in New Haven, Conn.
Dual-match play begins Jan. 19 with a doubleheader vs. Xavier and Cleveland State in the Ohio State University Indoor Tennis Center in Columbus. After a doubleheader Jan. 23 in Columbia, Mo., vs. Memphis and Missouri (No. 75 in 2009 final rankings) the Buckeyes will head to Fresno, Calif., for the ITA Indoor Qualifier. Ohio State will take on host Fresno State, who finished 2009 ranked 16th, in the first round, with Florida State (No. 19) and Virginia (No. 28) meeting in the other first-round matchup. The winners and losers will face off the next day, with the team that goes 2-0 advancing to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship Feb. 12-15 in Madison, Wis.
February opens with a home match against Kentucky Feb. 3 before matches in Virginia against William and Mary, who finished last season ranked 49th, Feb. 5 in Williamsburg and at Virginia in Charlottesville Feb. 7.
Two SEC schools come to Columbus two weeks later, as the Buckeyes host LSU (No. 24) Feb. 17 and Tennessee, who ended 2009 as the 10th-ranked program, Feb. 20. The challenging stretch continues with a match at Notre Dame, a Top 5 program a season ago, Feb. 24.
After a home match against Oregon (No. 71) Feb. 28, Ohio State opens Big Ten play with road matches at Penn State March 5 and Purdue March 12. The Buckeyes hit the road over spring break, returning to California to take on Long Beach State (No. 51) March 23 and traveling to Houston to face Rice March 27.
The regular season closes with eight-consecutive Big Ten matches. April opens with home matches against Minnesota (No. 69) April 2 and Iowa April 4 before four road matches in a row at Michigan State April 10, Michigan (No. 18) April 11, Illinois (No. 33) April 17 and Indiana (No. 48) April 18. The Buckeyes wrap up the conference slate against Wisconsin April 23 and Northwestern, the No. 2 team in the country a year ago, April 25.
Iowa will host the Big Ten Championship April 29-May 2 in Iowa City, Iowa, with the winner receiving the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. NCAA tournament play starts May 14-15 with regional action on campus sites and the NCAA team, singles and doubles championships will be held in Athens, Ga.