Fifth-year Irina Cantos Siemers shows some emotion during Ohio State’s 4-1 win over Washington at the Auer Tennis Center Sunday. Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
Before Sunday afternoon, the Ohio State women’s tennis team was 0-2 all-time against the Washington Huskies, but the circumstances were different this time around.
The No. 9 Buckeyes (7-4, 0-0 Big Ten) kicked off their three-match homestand with a 4-1 win against the No. 29 Huskies (10-4, 0-0 PAC-12) at the Auer Tennis Complex Sunday for their first outdoor match at home of the season.
The day’s match started off with the Buckeyes winning the doubles point after freshman Audrey Spencer and graduate Akanksha Bhan’s 6-2 victory over Washington’s Melissa Sakar and Sarah-Maude Fortin on court three, and graduate Irina Cantos Siemers’ and junior Shelly Bereznyak’s clinch after they topped their opponents, Erika Matsuda and Catherine Gagnon, 6-1 on court two.
“Washington is a good team, and we knew we needed to be tough,” Ohio State head coach Melissa Schaub said. “I thought we played a really complete match. It started with the doubles point and we kept it going from there.”
With a 1-point lead for Ohio State going into singles, the Buckeyes took five of the six first sets and maintained their control over Washington.
On court five, freshman Teah Chavez won her first set against Fortin 6-3 and put the Buckeyes up 2-0 after winning her second set 6-4.
After Chavez’s straight-set win, the Huskies soon received their first and only point of the day on court two after freshman Alexia Jacobs defeated junior Buckeye Sydni Ratliff in both sets, 6-3, 6-2.
However, Ohio State carried on with momentum in the following sets with two more straight-set victories to close out the match.
Spencer earned the Buckeyes’ third point, winning both her first and second sets 6-3 against Gagnon on court six.
Over on court one, No. 15 Cantos Siemers was down 4-5 against Matsuda in the first set, but experienced a quick turnaround and won the no-ad point to get back on serve, 7-5. The Buckeyes’ captain won her second set 6-0.
“Any day you get the chance of playing outside on a sunny day, with a great crowd, it’s bound to be a good day,” Cantos Siemers said.
On courts three and four, freshman Luciana Perry’s and Bereznyak’s singles matches against Washington’s Astrid Olsen and Sakaar went unfinished after both Buckeyes won their first sets and remained in the lead during their second.
Cantos Siemers continues to lead the Buckeyes in singles with an 8-1 mark this spring, while Bereznyak is a close second with a 6-2 record.
“I am really proud of the team effort and our energy today,” the Buckeye captain said.
Schaub, who recently broke the program record for all-time coaching wins with their victory over UCLA Feb. 4, is now 227-76 in her 12th year of being the Buckeyes’ head coach. Former head coach Chuck Merzbacher set the previous record of 224 wins in his career from 1997 to 2012.
With this win over Washington, the Buckeyes are now 7-4 this season with a 5-0 home record and remain in the top 10 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Division I rankings.
“I couldn’t be happier to have gotten a match outside and a huge thanks to the amazing crowd we had today,” Schaub said. “It was a really good atmosphere, and our players definitely fed off of that energy.”
Along with their victory, the women’s tennis team was named the 2024 ITA Division I Women’s National Team Indoor Championship Sportsmanship Award winner Monday. This award is handed to the men’s and women’s tennis teams that exhibit sportsmanship, character and ethical conduct throughout the national championship, which the Buckeyes attended Feb. 9-11 in Seattle.
“When you are at the National Indoors, you are there to compete against the best teams in the country,” Schaub said in a press release. “I think you can compete your absolute hardest every time that you step on that court while also understanding you are representing something bigger than yourself.”
Before Big Ten play opens with a match against No. 2 Michigan next week, Ohio State is set to host No. 13 Pepperdine at 6 p.m., Friday at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.
