Women's Tennis Returns to Action this Weekend with NKU and VT

Friday, February 12

Cincinnati, Ohio

1 PM

Xavier University

Northern Kentucky

Women's Tennis Returns to Action this Weekend with NKU and VT

02.10.21 | Women's Tennis

NKU Live Stream VT Live Stats

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier women's tennis returns to action this weekend, hosting Northern Kentucky on Friday at 1:00 p.m. at Eastern Hills Indoor Tennis Club and traveling to Virginia Tech on Sunday for a noon start.

All season, matches held at Eastern Hills Indoor Tennis Club can be watched at GoXavier.com/WTENLiveStreams.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY

The Norse opened the season with a 5-1 win over Western Kentucky.
NKU finished last season with a 6-3 record before the remainder of the season was canceled.
The Musketeers defeated NKU 6-1 last season on January 31.
Xavier is 12-0 against NKU dating back to 2008.

VIRGINIA TECH

The Hokies are 1-2 to open the season, falling to Charlotte and Old Dominion and picking up a win over VCU.
Virginia Tech finished 2020 at 7-7 before the remainder of the season was canceled.
The Hokies opened last season with five straight wins before moving into ACC play. VT was 7-0 against non-conference opponents last season.
The last time the two programs faced off was in the 1997 Atlantic 10 tournament. Xavier is 0-3 against the Hokies all-time.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier's women went 2-0 during opening weekend, picking up wins over UIC and EMU.
In the 5-2 win over UIC, Xavier jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point with a 6-0 win in the No. 3 spot for Kaitlin Ruether and Imani Graham, followed by a 6-1 win in the No. 1 spot for Ahmeir Kyle and Emily Thomas. Kat Lyman and Anna Roggenburk led 5-2 in the No. 2 spot when the point was decided.
Xavier made it a 2-0 lead when Imani Graham, in her first collegiate match, picked up a second win for the day, this time in the No. 4 singles spot, 6-3, 6-0. The lead extended to three with a 6-4, 6-2 win for Ahmeir Kyle in No. 1 singles. Kat Lyman scored the deciding point for the Musketeers with her second win in her debut for Xavier, a 6-4, 6-2 win in the No. 3 spot.
During the 7-0 win over EMU, Xavier took the 1-0 lead on the the doubles point after Imani Graham and Kaitlin Ruether took the No. 3 spot with a 6-1 win, and Ahmeir Kyle and Emily Thomas secured the point with a 6-3 win in No. 1 doubles. Anna Roggenburk and Kat Lyman fell, 6-4, on the No. 2 court.
Ahmeir Kyle made it a 2-0 Xavier lead with a 6-0, 6-1 win in No. 1 singles. Anna Roggenburk's 6-2, 6-2 win on the No. 2 court. Kaitlin Ruether's 6-2, 6-4 win in No. 5 singles secured the win for the Musketeers at 4-0.
Imani Graham picked up a fifth point for the Musketeers and moved to 2-0 so far in her Xavier career with a 6-1, 6-1 win on the No. 4 court. Kat Lyman made it 6-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win in No. 3 singles. Blessing Nwaozuzu, making her debut as a Musketeer, took the first set in No. 6 singles, 6-2, then fell 4-6 in the second set. In the third set, Nwaozuzu battled to a 12-10 win, securing the sweep and picking up her first win at Xavier.

THE TEAM: RETURNERS

Xavier returns five from the 2020 season, with all getting routine action in dual play.
Ahmeir Kyle played primarily in the No. 1 singles spot, finishing the shortened dual season with a 7-5 record. Kyle also had an 8-5 record in No. 1 doubles, partnered with both Emily Thomas and Kaitlin Ruether.
Anna Roggenburk was Xavier's No. 2 singles player for most of the season, finishing with four wins. She also collected another win playing in the No. 1 singles spot. She ended the season with a 9-5 record in doubles, going 8-5 in the No. 2 spot with 2020 graduate Rachael Reichenbach. She also went 1-0 in No. 3 doubles with Lauren Fitz-Randolph, also a 2020 grad.
Emily Thomas had a 3-4 record in singles play during dual action, going 2-0 in the No. 2 spot and 1-4 in the No. 3 spot. She also posted a 4-3 record in doubles plays during duals, playing with Ahmeir Kyle in the No. 1 spot.
Kaitlin Ruether was Xavier's primary No. 4 singles player in 2019, posting a 7-1 record in the spot, and a 9-5 record overall in dual singles. Ruether posted a 6-6 record in dual doubles, including a 4-2 record in No. 1 doubles with Ahmeir Kyle.
Natalie Moyer posted a 6-4 record in singles during dual play, going 4-4 in the No. 5 spot, but also posting 1-0 records in the No. 4 and No. 6 spots. Moyer collected three doubles wins during dual play, including a 1-0 record in the No. 2 spot with Kaitlin Ruether and wins with 2020 graduates Rachael Reichenbach and Lauren Fitz-Randolph in the No. 3 spot.

THE TEAM: NEWCOMERS

Xavier added a pair of freshmen to the roster, Imani Graham and Blessing Nwaozuzu.
Graham is from St. Johns, Florida (Creekside High School) and is currently ranked No. 53 in the country. The 5-star recruit had been ranked as high as No. 7 nationally according to tennisrecruiting.net. She was the 2019 FHSAA Individual State Champion and was named a member of the All-County Girls Tennis Team in 2019.
Nwaozuzu is 4-star recruit from Orange, Ohio (Orange High School). Coming out high school, she had a high ranking of No. 61 nationally according to tennisrecruiting.net. Nwaozuzu was a 2019 Midwest L2 Open Champion and was CVC Conference Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019.
Xavier also added a pair of transfers in Kat Lyman and Lucy Octave.
Lyman, a transfer from West Virginia, was a four-star recruit with a national ranking as high as No. 26 (TennisRecruiting.net) during her prep career. As a freshman at WVU in 2020, Lyman collected 11 total wins in a shortened dual season. She has four years of eligibility remaining.
Octave joins Xavier as a graduate transfer from Utah State. In her four seasons as an Aggie, Octave recorded 91 wins in singles and doubles, the 10^th most in program history. Her 51 total singles win and 40 doubles wins both rank in the top 12 in Utah State's career records as well.