As a Florida native, Julie Blackmore is very familiar with how fans in the South view Big Ten sports.
"I'm very eager to prove them wrong," Blackmore said. "They think the Big Ten and Ohio State are not very good.
"We're going to work hard and try to prove them wrong."
For the first time since 2004, the OSU women's tennis team is part of the NCAA tournament field. The Buckeyes (19-7 Big Ten) get a chance to prove southern fans wrong on May 9 in Gainesville, Fla. as they take on Auburn University (16-9) from the Southeastern Conference.
"When I first got here and talked with the girls, making the tournament was our top goal," freshman Cami Hubbs said. "We've been pushing each other all season to get better and to work hard in order to make the tournament."
No current member of the team has ever participated in the tournament. OSU is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA field overall, with six coming under coach Chuck Merzbacher.
"Being in the NCAA tournament puts our program in a national spotlight," Merzbacher said. "I'm very proud of this team because they've put in all the work needed to get to this point, beginning in the summer."
The Buckeyes are aiming to improve their history against the SEC in tournament play. Five out of six past tournament appearances have ended with a loss to an SEC school. OSU has a recent history with Auburn, falling 6-1 to the Tigers last season.
"This is a much different team than we had last season," Merzbacher said. "We have a good freshman class (Hubbs and Paloma Escobedo), along with having six players with 20 wins.
"When we get the doubles point to begin a match, we feel like we stand a good chance to win with our depth."
OSU has set several records this season, including tying the single-season wins mark with 19. Blackmore tied the school's single-season doubles victory mark with 30, and Hubbs ran away with the singles record for a single-season with 36.
"Cami and I have really become a good team in doubles," Blackmore said. "We know what each other is going to do when we're competing in the match and our games match up well."
Brad Morris can be reached at morris.565@osu.edu.
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