Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Drop Tough One to Instate Rival Tulsa, 5-2
March 25, 2007 | Cowgirl Tennis
The 37th-ranked Tulsa Golden Hurricanes pulled out two three-set victories to defeat No. 48 Oklahoma State, 5-2, in Tulsa Saturday.
The doubles point was highly competitive between OSU (9-4) and TU (16-3) at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The Cowgirls struck first with a big win at No. 1 singles as Yawna Allen and Nataliya Shatkovskaya defeated Kindsay Grimes and Carla Zabaleta, 8-4.
The Golden Hurricanes struck back at No. 3 doubles when Thalia Diaz-Barriga and Jie Zeng defeated Marta Tsivka and Zuzanna Osinska, 8-2.
The point came down to No. 2 doubles where Lauren Simmons and Iryna Tkachenko dropped a heartbreaker to Santie Delport and Marta Marcinkowska in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (3).
In singles play O-State quickly evened the score with a quick win at No. 3 singles. Shatkovskaya dropped Zabaleta, 6-3, 6-2, to pick up her team-leading ninth dual win of the season.
The Golden Hurricanes responded by winning three-straight matches to clinch the win. Of the three loses, one came in three sets as Allen lost to Delport, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Allen is now 7-5 this spring and six of her matches have gone to three sets.
The Cowgirls got their second point with a win at No. 1 singles. Tkachenko, who has overcome sickness this past week, defeated Grimes in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. The junior is tied for second on the team with eight dual wins.
OSU also suffered a loss at No. 5 singles where Lauren Simmons lost to Agostona Santoro in a third-set tiebreaker, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2).
OSU will have a quick turnaround, as they will host the East Central Tigers at the DeBois Tennis Center Sunday at 2 p.m.
No. 37 Tulsa 5, No. 48 OSU 2
Tulsa (16-3), OSU (9-4)
Singles
No. 1- Tkachenko (OSU) def. Grimes (TU); 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
No. 2- Delport (TU) def. Allen (OSU); 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 3- Shatkovskaya (OSU) def. Zabaleta (TU); 6-3, 6-2
No. 4- Barriga (TU) def. Tsivka (OSU); 6-1, 6-4
No. 5- Santoro (TU) def. Simmons (OSU); 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2)
No. 6- Marcinkowska (TU) def. Poskitt (OSU); 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1- Allen/Shatkovskaya (OSU) def. Grimes/Zabaleta (TU); 8-4
No. 2- Delport/Marcinkowska (TU) def. Simmons/Tkachenko (OSU); 9-8 (3)
No. 3- Barriga/Zeng (TU) def. Tsivka/Osinska (OSU); 8-2
