Teens Lam, Jovic Advance, Zamarripa Twins Meet in Second Round at W35 in Texas; No. 1 Ohio State Men Drop Another Doubles Point, but Beat No. 14 Baylor; Georgia Gwinnett and Barry Men and Women Top Latest NAIA, D-II Rankings

Fifteen-year-old Shannon Lam, who won a round last February at the W35 in Spring Texas, has equaled that this year, defeating Katrina Scott 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 this afternoon. Lam, who lost in the final of ITF J200 last week in the Dominican Republic, will play No. 2 seed Varvara Lepchenko in Thursday's second round.

Sixteen-year-old Iva Jovic, who received entry as a lucky loser, defeated 30-year-old Gabriela Ce of Brazil 6-3, 6-3 to advance. Jovic, who also won a round last year in the main draw, faces Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil next.

Twins Allura and Maribella Zamarripa will meet for a second time on the Pro Circuit Thursday, after the former Texas Longhorns picked up wins today. Allura defeated wild card Diae El Jardi(Rice) of Morocco 6-4, 6-2, while Maribella beat No. 7 seed Jamie Loeb, last week's Mexico City W50 champion 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in just under three hours.  The last time the 21-year-olds played was over four years ago, before they joined Texas, with Maribella taking a 6-2, 6-3 decision.

The other Americans advancing, in addition to Lam, Jovic, the Zamarripas and Lepchenko, are top seed Maria Mateas(Duke), Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine), Whitney Osuigwe[8], Jessica  Failla(USC/Pepperdine), Victoria Hu[5](Princeton) and Malkia Ngounoue[Q](Kansas).

At the WTA 250 ATX Open in Austin Texas, future Longhorn Maya Joint and current Texas junior Sabina Zeynalova received a wild card into the doubles draw and won their first round match over Elixane Lechemia(South Carolina) of France and Anna Siskova of the Czech Republic 6-7(9). 6-4, 10-4. They face top seeds Oksana Kalishnakova of Georgia and Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine in the quarterfinals. 

It's been great to have college tennis on ESPN+ this winter, and I was able to watch the men's and women's No. 1s play in the past five days. Oklahoma State blanked No. 33 Princeton 7-0 on Saturday, outdoors in Stillwater; tonight Ohio State defeated No. 14 Baylor 4-1 inside in Waco.

The Waco weather, with temperatures in the 40s and light rain in the area, forced the match indoors, which might have been an advantage for the Buckeyes, who hardly needed one.  Although they again dropped the doubles point for the fifth time in their last seven matches, despite making some changes in the lineup, Ohio State again flexed their muscles in singles, taking all six first sets. The loud Baylor crowd of around 500 reached its peak noise level after the doubles clinch, but they had little to cheer about after that.  JJ Tracy tied the score at line 3, and Ohio State immediately took the lead with a win by Robert Cash at line 4. Justin Boulais, playing No. 1 tonight, made it 3-1 and Jack Anthrop closed out the Bears at line 5, two hours and 15 minutes after the match had begun.

Ohio State is now 15-0, with Baylor falling to 11-2.

I won't have time to follow every ranking release for all the divisions this spring, but with few junior events of note this week, it's a good time to check in on the Division II and NAIA rankings released today.  These are still being done by polls of coaches on the ranking committee; to see the complete Top 25, click on the headings. The two programs and four teams at the top of the polls are this month's ITA Team Indoor champions. 

Division II Team Rankings

Coaches Poll February 28, 2024

WOMEN:

1. Barry

2. Nova Southeastern

3. West Alabama

4. Saint Leo

5. Wasburn

6. Flagler

7. Lynn

8. Columbus State

9. Cameron

10. Wayne State

MEN:

1. Barry

2. Saint Leo

3. Flagler

4. Valdosta State

5. Columbus State

6. Indianapolis

7. West Florida

8. Wayne State

9. Rollins

T10. Hawaii Pacific

T10. Lander

NAIA Team Rankings

Coaches Poll February 28, 2024

WOMEN:

1. Georgia Gwinnett

2. Keiser

3. Southeastern (FL)

4. Tennessee Wesleyan

5. Xavier (LA)

6. St. Thomas (FL)

7. LSU Alexandria

8. Middle Georgia

9. William Woods

10. William Carey

MEN:

1. Georgia Gwinnett

2. Tennessee Wesleyan

3. Keiser

4. Northwestern Ohio

5. Westcliff

6. William Woods

7. Southeastern (FL)

8. William Carey

9. Middle Georgia

10. Coastal Georgia