Olympic Recap: Women’s Tennis On A Roll

Ohio State’s women’s tennis team will surely be climbing from its No. 11 ranking this week.

The Buckeyes beat No. 19 Oklahoma State 4-3 Thursday in the Ty Tucker Tennis Center before sweeping No. 5 Georgia 4-0 Saturday to improve their record to 5-0 on the season.

“We played well today. We continue to compete and fight as hard as we can every day,” head coach Melissa Schaub said after her team beat the Bulldogs. “Georgia is a great team and we have a ton of respect for them. To get a win like this at home means a lot to us. We need to continue to work and get better every day.”

Senior Irina Cantos Siemers, ranked No. 30 in the country among women’s singles players, posted a 4-0 record across both meets. She and graduate Isabelle Boulais, the No. 31 doubles pairing in the country, defeated both Oklahoma State’s duo of Kristina Novak/Alana Wolfberg and Georgia’s pairing of Guillermina Grant/Mai Nirundorn. OSU won the doubles point against the Bulldogs due in part to their efforts.

Cantos Siemers also won her singles matches against Novak and Georgia’s No. 31 Dasha Midnamova.

While they swept the Bulldogs, Ohio State barely edged out its win against the Cowboys. After losing the doubles point, it had to win a minimum of four of six singles matches and hit exactly that number. No. 15 Sydni Ratliff picked up a big win over No. 108 Wolfberg 6-2, 6-2. She also beat Georgia’s No. 19 Lea Ma Saturday; 6-4, 6-2.

Ohio State fifth-year Kolie Allen — ranked 116th in the country — picked up the biggest win for the Buckeyes in the Oklahoma State match, taking out the Cowboys’ top ranked player in No. 72 Sofia Rojas.

Women’s Hockey Splits Minnesota Series

The No. 1 Ohio State women’s hockey team may have had its 10-game winning streak snapped by No. 3 Minnesota on the road Friday, but the Buckeyes responded to topple the Golden Gophers Saturday and end their regular season 1-2-1 against the WCHA rival.

Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 30 minutes of game time in the first contest, getting goals from three different players. Ohio State forward Gabby Rosenthal managed to get the Buckeyes on the board before the close of the second period, but they trailed 3-1 entering the third.

Forward Jennifer Gardiner cut the deficit to 3-2 16 seconds into the final frame, but a goal from Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy with less than seven minutes to play iced the contest away.

Saturday looked like it may be a repeat when Minnesota defenseman Madeline Wethington tucked away just her second goal of the year to give the Golden Gophers a 1-0 lead in the first period, but instead OSU composed an onslaught in response.

The Buckeyes scored five straight goals off the sticks of five different players to close the match. Sloane Matthews and Hadley Hartmetz made it a 2-1 advantage before the opening period finished, and after a scoreless second, Rosenthal, Kenzie Hauswirth and Paetyn Levis knocked home their own scores in the third for a 5-1 Ohio State victory.

Men’s Volleyball Picks Up Top 10 Win

Speaking of weekend splits, then-No. 13 Ohio State men’s volleyball picked up a top-10 victory over USC Saturday after falling to No. 2 UCLA Friday.

OSU, now ranked No. 11 in the NC Men’s Volleyball RPI, knocked off the No. 10 Trojans 3-1 at the Rec Hall on Penn State’s campus. Both the matches against USC and UCLA were part of the Big Ten/PAC-12 challenge.

Jacob Pasteur recorded 18 kills to aide the cause.

The Bruins beat the Buckeyes 3-1, taking the first two sets before letting up a 25-23 win in the third before a 25-23 win of their own in the fourth to take the match.