In their first tournament Sept. 11-12, the women’s golf team came out with a tie for a 10th place finish out of 16 teams. Sept. 17-18 in the Mary Fossum Invitational at Forest Akers West, they were able to finish as high as third place out of 15 teams.
The Buckeyes shot an overall team score of 879 (+15) for the weekend. Sophomore Kary Hollenbaugh finished tied for fourth place individually with a 54-hole score of 216 (E). Redshirt senior Caley McGinty finished tie for ninth with a score of 218 (+2) after shooting 1-under par in her final round.
Those two were followed on the team by redshirt junior Jillian Bourdage who carded a 221 (+5), redshirt junior Emily Hummer who shot a 226 (+10), and junior Faith Choi with a 228 (+12). Freshman Kavya Ajjarapu competed individually and had a 54-hole score of 227 (+11) which would put her in a tie for 40th place.
Their last event of the 2023 season will be Oct. 9-10 at Medinah Country Club for the Illini Women’s Invitational at Medinah. Then they will be off until Feb. 4 when they travel to Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. For the Therese Hession Regional Challenge.
Women’s Tennis Season Off To Good Start
At the Debbie Southern Fall Classic in Greenville, S.C., the Buckeyes competed from Sept. 15-17 both indoors and outdoors, weather permitting. Graduate student Akanksha Bhan went 3-0 in singles match play. There were 10 flights for singles, and Bhan won the Flight 9 title with that record.
She was able to capture the title with back-to-back straight-set victories on the last two days of the tournament. Freshman Luciana Perry also made it to her championship in Flight 4, but she would fall in three sets to Guillermina Grant of Georgia.
Perry, graduate student Irina Cantos Siemers, junior Sydni Ratliff, junior Shelly Bereznyak, senior Madeline Atway and freshman Teah Chavez each won two singles matches, and Atway and Chavez picked up two doubles victories together as well in the event.
In Cary, N.C., at the College Ranked Spotlight from Sept. 21-24, Cantos Siemers and Ratliff, the No. 14-ranked doubles tandem in the country went 2-1, falling in the Group A and B championship to a duo from Texas A&M.
Cantos Siemers and Perry also reached the finals in their respective singles groups after going 4-0 the first two days, but neither would be able to come away with a win.
Field Hockey Improves To 9-2
After beginning the season 8-1, the No. 12 Ohio State field hockey program’s best start since 2006, and beating Michigan for the first time since 2011, the Buckeyes matched up against No. 3-ranked Northwestern. They would lose 4-3, but despite the loss, they showed they’re a force to be reckoned with this season.
Graduate transfer midfielder/back Julie Rodijk scored in the first quarter to give OSU an early lead, but Northwestern would respond in the second quarter to tie the game up 1-1. Senior forward Makenna Webster answered, scoring on a penalty stroke for her 11th goal of the season.
After the Wildcats tied the game back up at 2, the Buckeyes scored again, but that goal was called off. Northwestern took a 3-2 lead in the fourth quarter and would add another when the Buckeyes removed senior goalkeeper Abby Danson from the game, leaving an empty net to add another offensive player to make it 4-2.
Webster got another penalty stroke opportunity and connected again, giving her 12 goals for the season, but it wouldn’t be enough to come back. The Buckeyes continue to show they are able to play with the best teams in the country.
They got themselves back in the win column on Sunday with a 3-2 win over Ohio University at Buckeye Varsity Field. The three goals came from graduate student Leanne Bough (her 4th of the season), Rodijk (6th) and Webster (13th). Their next game will be against the top ranked team in the country, No. 1 Iowa on Friday at Grant Field in Iowa City. The Buckeyes beat Iowa last year 2-0 when the Hawkeyes were ranked No. 5.
