Cowgirl Tennis Opens Season in Top Five

STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State women's tennis team will open the 2017 campaign ranked fifth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings, it was announced Wednesday. The ranking is the team's highest recorded position in the poll in program history.

The Cowgirls, who return five starters from last season, get the top-five nod from the ITA following a successful 2016 in which the squad advanced to the national championship and brought home the program's first Big 12 Championship in 13 years.

Individually, five Cowgirls appear in the dual season's first singles rankings, while three OSU doubles teams make appearances in the doubles poll.

Viktoriya Lushkova comes in at No. 11 in the preseason singles rankings after a successful fall that saw the senior go 8-3 and advance to the quarterfinals of both the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships and the ITA National Indoor Championships. It ties as the second-highest ranking in Lushkova's career, as the Ukrainian product was slotted at No. 10 in the 2015 preseason rankings.

Vladica Babic will open her sophomore season as the 29th-ranked singles player in the country. Babic posted a 7-2 mark during the fall with an unscathed 3-0 record against ranked foes, including a victory over No. 8 Jasmine Lee of Mississippi State.

Senior Carla Tur Mari is ranked No. 32 to reach the highest singles mark of her career. With an 8-2 overall record, the Spanish native posted perhaps the best fall of her career, which was highlighted by a trip to the ITA Central Regional Championship finals.

Following an All-American junior season in which she advanced to the national singles quarterfinals, Katarina Adamovic will open her senior campaign ranked No. 68. Adamovic knocked off three ranked opponents, including top-15 challengers No. 15 Saska Gavrilovska of Texas A&M and eighth-ranked Lee of Mississippi State.

Sophomore Sofia Blanco makes her first appearance in the ITA singles rankings, coming in at No. 106. Blanco went an impressive 9-1 in her first fall season as a Cowgirl, advancing to the round of 16 at the ITA Central Region Championships and going undefeated at the SMU Red and Blue Challenge.

In doubles, Vladica Babic is slotted at No. 11 with Carla Tur Mari and at No. 19 with Katarina Adamovic. Babic and Tur Mari made waves at the regional championships this fall, going 6-0 to take the ITA Central Region doubles title. The win qualified the pair for the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships, where they advanced to the semifinals after taking down two top-10 foes. Babic and Adamovic found great success this fall as well, following up a 2016 season in which the tandem went 32-3 to knock off three top-11 teams on their way to the backdraw finals of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships.

Making its first appearance in the doubles rankings is the tandem of Aliona Bolsova and Sofia Blanco. The OSU duo recorded 10 wins during the fall season for the Pokes, advancing to the quarterfinals of the regional championships and nearly advancing to the main draw at Riviera.

The Cowgirls open their spring season next week at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. Competition is set for Jan. 13-16.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Katarina Adamovic

Vladica Babic

Sofia Blanco

Aliona Bolsova

Viktoriya Lushkova

Carla Tur Mari

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