Season Review: Women's Tennis posts 16th consecutive upper-divison OAC finish in 2017
By Caleb Scott
ADA — The Ohio Northern women's tennis team continued its success during the 2016-17 campaign as it posted its 16th consecutive upper-division Ohio Athletic Conference finish under 16th-year head coach Scott Wills.
Northern finished the season with a 22-5 mark and advanced to the OAC Tournament Finals, posting its seventh straight top-2 finish in the OAC.
Four members of the team were named All-OAC in 2016-17.
Junior Lynn Kelly (Mason) and sophomore Ashley Ochsenhirt (Brimingham, Ala./Briarwood Christian) were named First Team All-OAC, while senior Christina Corbean (Dayton/Oakwood) and freshman Ola Latala (Grosse Ile, Mich.) were Second Team All-Conference honorees.
Kelly is now a two-time All-OAC award winner as she was also a First Team All-OAC pick as a freshman in 2014-15.
This season, Kelly went 5-2 at Nos. 1 and 2 singles and 8-3 at No. 1 doubles, while battling a series of nagging injuries.
In her career, Kelly is 39-11 in singles, 46-11 in doubles and 85-22 overall.
She is also an Academic All-OAC honoree.
Ochsenhirt led the Polar Bears with a 23-4 singles record, including a 15-2 mark at No. 1 singles, in her first season at ONU.
She was also a team-best 23-4 in doubles, going 13-3 at No. 1, and led the squad with a 46-8 overall record.
Ochsenhirt was named the OAC Player of the Week three times in the spring of 2017.
Corbean is now a four-time All-OAC honoree. She was named First Team in 2013 and 2014 and was a Second Team selection as a junior in 2015.
She ranks eighth all-time at ONU with a 127-64 career record. She is ninth all-time with 62 singles wins and is 10th with 65 doubles wins.
This season, Corbean went 13-4 in singles, 18-4 in doubles and was 31-8 overall.
Latala posted a 20-7 singles record playing regularly in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots and was 19-2 in doubles spread evenly in all three doubles positions.
She was third on the team with an overall record of 39-9.
Ochsenhirt earned OAC Player of the Week on three separate occasions for the Polar Bears during the season.
Freshmen Mackenzie Wills (Ada) and Ola Latala (Grosse Ile, Mich.) each tied for second on the team with 20 victories in singles play, while Wills was third on the team with 20 victories in doubles play.
The Polar Bears got off to a hot start during the Fall portion of the schedule as they rattled off eight straight victories to open the 2016-17 campaign.
Northern defeated Kean (N.J.), Rutgers-Newark (N.J.) and Farmingdale State (N.Y.) to open the season during its east coast trip.
After competing in the Oberlin Invitational, Northern posted a 2-0 record at the Defiance Invitational, defeating the host Yellow Jackets 9-0 and Concordia (Mich.) 8-1.
From there, Northern would close the Fall portion of the schedule out with victories over Trine (Ind.) and St. Francis (Ind.).
Northern opened the Spring schedule at Div. 1-foe Miami (Ohio), where it fell 7-0.
After dropping an 8-1 decision to Wilkes (Pa.) on the first day of its Spring Break trip in Hilton Head Island, S.C., Northern would defeat Nebraska Wesleyan, Sweet Briar (Va.), Albion (Mich.) and North Carolina Wesleyan to close out its trip.
ONU wrapped up the month of March with a 9-0 victory over Wittenberg.
The Polar Bears posted a 7-2 record in April, falling only to No. 35-ranked Kenyon and eventual OAC Champion John Carroll.
Northern would post 5-0 victories over Marietta and Mount Union in the OAC Tournament before falling to John Carroll in the tournament final to close the season.