Tennis Readies for Dual-Match Openers
January 28, 2015 02:10 PM | General
 |
| Second-year coach Miha Lisac and the Mountaineers open its 2015 dual-match season on the road against No. 33 Ohio State. |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s tennis team opens its 2015 dual-match season on the road against No. 31 Ohio State on Thursday at the Varsity Indoor Tennis Center in Columbus at 9 a.m.
“We have been preparing for dual matches since the beginning of the fall semester. Are we where we want to be heading into the first match? No, but I doubt any team can say that at the beginning of the season,” said second-year coach Miha Lisac. “I know the girls are excited. I know I am. After all the practices and all the tournaments this is what we have been waiting for. This is what it comes down too. It is time to go out there and show off some of the things that we have been putting into place throughout the fall semester.”
In the 2014 campaign, Ohio State clinched a third-place Big 10 finish en route to an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes concluded the season with 19 wins, one shy of the program-record 20 wins set by the 2010 NCAA tournament squad and recorded a perfect 12-0 on their home courts in the spring.
The Buckeyes were ranked No. 31 in the latest team poll released by the ITA on January 20th. Ohio State returned six players from a season ago, including the sophomore duo of Gabriella De Santis and Sandy Niehaus. The tandem earned doubles rankings in the first ITA poll of the spring season, checking in at No. 26. The Buckeyes also have two newcomers ranked in the top-100, with Olivia Sneed at No. 71 and Anna Sanford as the No. 86 singles players in the country.
The Mountaineers last played at Ohio State in 2013, falling by a score of 6-1. West Virginia is 0-15 all-time against the Buckeyes. However, this is the first meeting between the two schools under the direction of Lisac.
In the fall, WVU collected a combined overall record of 68-40. Individually, freshman Carolina Lewis stood at a team best with a record of 11-3 in singles play, and freshman Lyn Yuen Choo had a combined record of 16-7. In doubles action, senior Ikttesh Chahal and junior Hailey Barrett went undefeated with a record of 4-0.
“One of our major goals is to take steps forward in the spring season and continue to improve leading up to Big 12 play, and that is where we want to be our best,” Lisac explained. “We are not concerned about the national rankings, but we want to be play our best in every single match. We know that if we work consistently that we will be capable of upsetting some of the ranked teams.”
Following the match against Ohio State, the Mountaineers will remain in Ohio and travel to Toledo on Saturday, Jan. 31, to take on the Rockets at the UT Varsity Tennis Courts at 3 p.m.
A recap will be available following each day of competition at WVUsports.com.
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Zac Alley | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 18
Saturday, April 18
