No. 2 Ohio State women’s tennis dominates Michigan State 6-1 in outdoor opener

Teah Chavez helped Ohio State sweep in doubles before resting in her singles match in the No. 2 Buckeyes’ 6-1 rout of Michigan State Saturday. Credit: Gaurav Law | Lantern File Photo

Ohio State did not need its full lineup to dominate.

Even while resting one of its top players and inserting three unranked singles competitors, No. 2 Ohio State women’s tennis overpowered Michigan State 6-1 Saturday at the Auer Tennis Complex in its first outdoor match of the season.

“I think we’re going nine people deep, which is just really good for our season,” head coach Melissa Schaub said. “We got a lot of people that can step up when we need them to, and they showed that today.”

Ohio State set the tone early by sweeping the doubles point. Freshman Hephzibah Oluwadare and sophomore Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev rolled to a 6-0 win, while junior Teah Chavez and junior Alessia Cau matched that scoreline to secure the opening advantage.

Going into singles, Ohio State would notably rest No. 2 Chavez and deploy three unranked Buckeyes, despite having five ranked players available.

Two of those Buckeyes were freshmen, were Flora Johnson and Oluwadare, who won both their matches convincingly. Johnson won 6-1, 6-2 on court six, while Oluwadare was victorious 6-2, 6-3 on court four.

Junior Alessia Cau, the other unranked Buckeye that match, would earn the match clincher for the Buckeyes, winning her match 6-1, 6-4 against Nina Plihal.

“We’re trying to raise the bar every single match.” Cau said. “This is the standard for sure.”

Additional wins for the Buckeyes came off the back of No. 87 Cisse-Ignatiev in a straight-set win on court two, along with No. 4 junior Luciana Perry on court one, defeating Amara Brahmbhatt 6-4, 6-1.?

The Spartans’ only point came on court three when No. 44 sophomore Nao Nishino dropped the tiebreaker set, and ultimately the match, 10-7 to Ellie Blackford.?

The match capped off a performance that instilled firm belief within the Buckeye team that they are one of the best teams in the country, with a surplus of depth that can separate them from the rest of the field.

“I think we’ve proven that we’re one of the best teams in the country,” Oluwadare said. “We’re all such a good team, we’re all such good players. We’re looking to keep that on now.”?

Ohio State’s next match will be against Michigan on March 6, 6 p.m. at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.

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