Two losses to start the season against No. 10 Tennessee and No. 21 Notre Dame have not dampened the enthusiasm of the No. 48 Ohio State women’s tennis team.
“Everyone is still happy with how we’re playing,” senior Lindsay Williams said. “There are a lot of matches to be played. You can’t get down on yourself early.”
The Buckeyes were defeated 5-2 by Notre Dame on Saturday in South Bend, Ind. OSU started the match by dropping the doubles point. In singles play, Williams, playing in the No. 1 spot, lost to No. 14-ranked Alicia Salas 7-6 (9-7), 6-2. The close calls continued for the Buckeyes when No. 3 Jackie Leskovar was beaten by Catrina Thompson 7-5, 6-4, and No. 4 Lindsey Adams fell in three sets to the Fighting Irish’s Lauren Connelly.
“I thought there were just a few points that were the difference in that match,” Williams said. “They could have easily gone our way.”
A positive for the Buckeyes was the performance of the bottom third of the lineup. No. 5 Emily DeCamilla defeated Sarah Jane Connelly in straight sets, while freshman Kristin Messmer downed Kristina Stastny for her second consecutive win.
“Last year we didn’t do as well at the bottom,” said Adams, a junior. “This year we’re really deep and I think that’s helped a lot.”
OSU opened the season with a 4-3 setback to Tennessee on Jan. 25 at Jesse Owens West Tennis Center. Williams had a headlining win in singles when she defeated No. 13 Tammy Encina 3-2, 6-2, 6-3.
“She’s tough,” coach Chuck Merzbacher said. “She’s got the talent, and she’s mentally tough out there. She’s showing good leadership at the No. 1 spot.”
OSU also got a win from Messmer and captured the doubles point from the Volunteers. The team was pleased with its performance against the Top Ten team.
“We were happy with how we played and proved to ourselves that we can be good this year,” Adams said.
Merzbacher was also pleased but would have liked to have seen his team take advantage of its play.
“We had opportunities,” he said. “I think that we’ll realize as we get going in the season that we have to get those opportunities when we can.”
The Buckeyes were supposed to play Xavier University after the Tennessee match, but the meeting was cancelled due to inclement weather.
“You want to play Xavier, but it’s out of your control,” Merzbacher said. “We were going to try some different things with the lineup, but what can you do?”
The next match for OSU will be against Penn State Feb. 15. The Nittany Lions are 1-1 but have three more matches before coming to Columbus.
“We all know that they’re a dangerous team, and they always seem to play pretty hard against us, so we have to be ready for them,” Merzbacher said.
After Penn State, the Buckeyes will have three consecutive matches at home against Nebraska, Yale and Cleveland State. Merzbacher said he hopes the progress the team is making will continue with the home court advantage.
“We’re getting better, and if we’re getting better, success is going to come. I really feel with this team that success is going to come,” he said.
