The Youngstown State women's tennis team makes their ninth appearance in the NCAA Regionals when the Penguins take on third-seeded Ohio State on Saturday afternoon at the Auer Tennis Complex in Columbus, Ohio.

First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m., following the conclusion of the opening match between Arizona and Notre Dame. All matches are scheduled to be played outdoors. In the event of inclement weather, matches will be moved indoors to the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.

All matches will be streamed on Playsight, with live scoring available through Sidearm. Admission to Saturday's two matches is free.

The Penguins earned their NCAA bid after defeating Cleveland State, 4-1, in the Horizon League Championship for the second consecutive season and ninth in program history.

YSU never trailed in the match, securing the doubles point and carrying that momentum into the  singles matches. The Penguins built a 3-0 lead with back-to-back wins at No. 6 and No. 2 singles before clinching the match with a straight-set victory at No. 3.

YSU opened tournament play with a 4-0 win over Northern Kentucky in the quarterfinals and followed with a 4-1 victory against Milwaukee in the semifinals. 

During the championship run, the No. 3 doubles duo of Lorena Cedeno and Sarah Partida Garcia went 2-0, earning wins against NKU and CSU. At No. 3 singles, Yeseniia Ovcharova posted a perfect 3-0 record, winning all of her matches in straight sets. Hanna Telzynska and Cedeno each finished 2-0, with one unfinished match apiece.

Ovcharova and Telzynska enter the NCAA tournament tied for the team lead with 20 singles victories each, while Cedeno and Partida Garcia hold a team-best 9-1 doubles record.

Ohio State enters the national tournament with a 23-4 overall record and the Big Ten regular season title, finishing 12-1 in conference play. It marks the second consecutive season the Buckeyes have earned a top-four seed.

The matchup marks the sixth all-time meeting between the two programs and first in the postseason since a YSU visit to Columbus in 2016.

Ohio State's roster features five players ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's top 125 singles list: Luciana Perry (No. 4), Teah Chavez (No. 5), Nao Nishino (No. 76), Audrey Spencer (No. 122) and Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev.

Telzynska was a first-team All-Horizon League selection while Ovcharova and Cedeno were second-team all-league honorees.