Virginia Falls At No. 2 Ohio State 5-2
March 8, 2017
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Virginia women’s tennis team (5-4) got singles wins from a pair of underclassmen, but fell at No. 2 Ohio State (14-1) by a score of 5-2 on Wednesday (March 8) to kick-off a two-match road trip against Big 10 teams.
Freshman Rosie Johanson (Abbotsford, British Columbia), who is ranked No. 94 in the ITA women’s singles rankings, and sophomore Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) both picked up singles wins over nationally-ranked opponents for the Cavaliers.
While the second-ranked Buckeyes had already clinched the match, the Cavaliers continued to fight on courts two and three, winning the first sets in tiebreaks before clinching those matches to get Virginia on the scoreboard.
Johanson defeated No. 61 Anna Sanford by a score of 7-6, 6-3. Kelley defeated No. 41 Gabriella De Santis 7-6 (6), 4-6, 1-0 (8).
Ohio State won the doubles point to open the match with victories on courts two and three, but the Cavaliers picked up a win on court one as the No. 43-ranked duo of Chloe Gullickson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Cassie Mercer (Huntington, W.V.) defeated the No. 31-ranked pairing of De Santis and Sandy Niehaus by a score of 6-2.
The Buckeyes then clinched the match with wins on one, five and six to clinch the match before earning a fifth point with a win on court four. Virginia would then close the match with the wins on courts two and three from Johanson and Kelley.
The Cavaliers return to action on Friday, continuing the road trip with a match at No 9 Michigan at 2:30 p.m.
No. 2 Ohio State 5, Virginia 2
Singles
No. 1 Francesca Di Lorenzo def. No. 75 Cassie Mercer, 6-1, 6-3
No. 94 Rosie Johanson vs. No. 61 Anna Sanford 7-6, 6-3
Meghan Kelley vs. No. 41 Gabriella De Santis, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 1-0 (8)
Chloe Gullickson vs. No. 53 Miho Kowase, 6-3, 6-4
No. 54 Sandy Niehaus def. Teodora Radosavljevic, 6-4, 6-3
Ferny Angeles Paz def. Camille Favero, 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 6, 4, 2, 3
Doubles
No. 43 Gullickson/Mercer def. No. 31 De Santis/Niehaus, 6-2
No. 63 Di Lorenzo/Sanford def. Johanson/Kelley, 6-3
Kowase/Angeles Paz def. Bleser/Favero, 6-0
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2