Women’s Tennis: No. 12 Buckeyes achieve 4-0 victory over No. 17 Duke – The Lantern

The Ohio State women’s tennis team is on fire.

The No. 12 Buckeyes (4-1, 0-0 Big Ten) earned their third straight 4-0 win this season after hosting and defeating No. 17 Duke (5-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center Friday afternoon.

Ohio State started off strong in its doubles matches with junior Sydni Ratliff and freshman Luciana Perry winning 6-3 against the Blue Devils’ senior Karolina Berankova and freshman Shavit Kimchi on court one.

“Doubles went really well for me,” Ratliff said. “Luciana [Perry] and I play really well together.”

On court two, Ohio State graduate Irina Cantos Siemers and freshman Audrey Spencer clinched the doubles point after topping juniors Ellie Coleman and Emma Jackson 6-4, giving the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead.

“Court three was struggling a bit to get it done, and Audrey [Spencer] and I were able to do that for them,” Cantos Siemers said. “We’re doing a really good job at pulling each other up.”

This was the fourth-consecutive doubles-point victory for Ohio State, continuing its streak for the spring season.

Moving into the singles matches, the Buckeyes took four of the six first sets, with wins from junior Shelly Bereznyak, Cantos Siemers, Spencer and Ratliff.

On court one, No. 15 Cantos Siemers won the first set 6-2 against Kimchi and handed Ohio State its second point against Duke after winning the second set 6-1, resulting in a 2-0 lead for the Buckeyes.

Cantos Siemers’s second-set victory tied her for the all-time singles win mark in Buckeye history. The graduate captain for the Buckeyes was also named Big Ten Athlete of the Week after walking away with three victories at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend and is now a “team-best” 4-0 in dual matches this season.

“It’s always an honor,” Cantos Siemers said. “It feels really good to be recognized, and for my efforts and hard work to be shown somewhere.”

Over on court five, Bereznyak faced a first-set struggle with graduate Blue Devil Iuliia Bryzgalova having an early 3-1 lead.

Bereznyak found her momentum and made a quick comeback from the Blue Devils in her singles match, winning the first set 6-4 and the second set 6-3, advancing Ohio State to a 3-0 lead against Duke.

On court three, Ratliff achieved a straight-set win, winning the first and second sets 6-4 against Blue Devil Katie Codd, and granted the Buckeyes their fourth and final point against the Blue Devils, ending the day’s matches with another 4-0 win for Ohio State.

“For singles, [Codd] was a tough player,” Ratliff said. “It was a tight match, but I was really happy to get it done the way that I did.”

The remaining matches on courts two, four and six were abandoned, with freshmen Teah Chavez and Perry both in a third set after dropping set one and winning the second.

“We have a lot of freshmen out there, but they’re performing incredibly well,” Ratliff said. “Teah [Chavez] and Luciana [Perry] made a comeback — they’re in there, they’re fighting, and we pride ourselves on our fight.”

The Ohio State Big Ten Athlete of the Week, Cantos Siemers, said she was proud of her team’s winning performance over Duke.

“This is a very special team,” Cantos Siemers said. “The biggest thing for us is that it feels like family – we have a lot of fun together, and I think that is how we thrive.”

After winning Sunday’s match 4-0 against No. 13 UCLA, the Buckeyes will compete in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle Friday through Feb. 12.