Graduate Akanksha Bhan pumps her fist while securing a win for the Ohio State women’s tennis team against Northwestern Saturday. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
After falling short of winning the doubles point, the Ohio State women’s tennis team came back and won four straight singles sets to claim a 4-1 win over Northwestern.
The No. 15 Buckeyes (16-6, 9-1 Big Ten) hosted the No. 34 Wildcats (17-6, 8-2 Big Ten) at the Auer Tennis Complex on Friday afternoon to continue their nine-match winning streak.
“I’m really happy with the girls,” Ohio State head coach Melissa Schaub said. “I think Northwestern is a good team, historically they’ve always been very good, so it’s a match we have to be ready for every single year.”
To start the day’s matchup, Ohio State won the first doubles match with the No. 34 pair of fifth-year Irina Cantos Siemers and freshman Luciana Perry topping fifth-year Christina Hand and senior Justine Leong, 6-3, on court one.
The Wildcats responded by tying the match as fifth-year Britany Lau and senior Maria Shusharina defeated freshman Alessia Cau and senior Madeline Atway 6-4 on court three.
As all eyes turned to court two to decide the doubles point, junior Sydney Pratt and freshman Neena Feldman rallied for a 6-3 win over the Buckeyes to put Northwestern in a 1-point lead going into singles.
“I think we can play a better doubles point, but the way we responded I think was really good,” Schaub said.
The Buckeyes didn’t let losing doubles stop them from success, as all four courts captured wins in straight sets for the team’s victory.
Perry tied the match after she topped Leong 6-3, 6-0 on court two.
“Luciana Perry getting off the court first, played very well and her energy was high,” Schaub said.
On court two, No. 17 Cantos Siemers put the Buckeyes in a 2-1 lead after she won her first and second sets, 6-3, 6-1, against Shusharina. With Cantos Siemers’ doubles and singles win of the day, she became the Buckeyes’ all-time leader in combined wins with 214, passing Ohio State alum Miho Kowase, who had 213 from her 2014-17 seasons.
“With Irina finishing second, it was good for her to get over the finish line against Shusharina because she’s a very good player and always has been in the Big Ten,” Schaub said.
Fifth-year Akanksha Bhan followed on court six and put the Buckeyes in a 3-1 advantage as she beat Lau with a straight-set win, 6-4, 6-0.
“I started out playing a little bit slow, but as I won the first set, the second set was pretty good,” Bhan said. “I was getting more aggressive and I could see my other teammates were doing really well.”
To end the match, junior Shelly Bereznyak claimed a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Pratt on court four to clinch Ohio State’s win. This singles win continued Bereznyak’s 13-match winning streak, and she is now tied with Cantos Siemers for the team lead in dual-match victories with 13 each.
“[Northwestern] has some people with confidence and we got off to some good starts out there,” Schaub said. “That was kind of the message in the locker room. Let’s try to take the first game of every single match; and I thought we did a pretty good job with that.”
To cap their regular season, the Buckeyes will host No. 35 Illinois on Sunday at noon in Columbus, Ohio for Senior Day where Cantos Siemers, Bhan and Atway will all be recognized before the match.
“Illinois beat Northwestern, obviously, so they’re two of our tougher conference matches here at the end, so we need to be ready for those guys,” Schaub said.
