Cowgirl Tennis Captures Bedlam Win Over Oklahoma

Wednesday, April 8

Stillwater, Okla.

Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma

April 08, 2009 | Cowgirl Tennis

STILLWATER, Okla. Â– The Oklahoma State women's tennis team won its fourth straight Bedlam match over rival Oklahoma with a 4-3 triumph at the DeBois Tennis Complex.

The Cowgirls improved to 10-10, 4-5 in Big 12 matches this spring. OU fell to 8-12, 2-7.

Oklahoma State clinched the doubles point to start the match in dramatic fashion.

OU's Tara Eckel and Marie-Pier Huet downed OSU's freshmen duo of Alisa Buslaieva and Iryna Khatsko 8-5 at No. 2 doubles. OSU quickly countered with an 8-5 win of its own when Maryna Tkachenko and Sasha Belova downed Peta Maree Lancaster and Kristina Radan at No. 3 doubles.

Minutes after OSU had won its first doubles match, JoAnne Karaitiana and Nataliya Shatkovskaya came back from down 5-2 to close out an 8-6 win over Ana-Maria Constantinescu and Maria Kalashnikova. The Sooners fought off three match points in the final game before the Cowgirls were able to pick up the win.

“We were kind of lucky to win the doubles,” OSU coach Julius Lubicz-Majewski said. “To come back from down 5-2 is pretty tough.”

The Cowgirls got right back to work at No. 3 singles when Khatsko picked up a 6-0, 6-2 win over Radan to stretch the OSU lead to 2-0.

OU got on the board at No. 1 singles with Constantinescu's 6-2, 6-3 win over Karaitiana. The Sooners evened the match with a 6-4, 6-0 win for Huet over Tkachenko at the No. 4 slot.

OSU extended its lead to 3-2 with a Shatkovskaya's gritty 6-2, 6-4 win over Kalashnikova at the No. 2 slot. The two traded breaks late in the second set before Shatkovskaya held serve to win the match.

Lancaster downed Buslaieva 6-3, 6-1 to bring the Sooners back square with the Cowgirls at 3. However, Belova soon closed out Brittany Baldy 6-3, 6-3 to clinch the match for the Cowgirls.

“No. 6 wasn't easy,” Lubicz-Majewski said. “Oklahoma's girls are very consistent, so I was happy to get the win.”

Coupled with a win over Iowa State on Saturday, today's win marks the first time the Cowgirls have won back-to-back Big 12 matches this spring.

OSU will return to action April 17 against Texas Tech in Stillwater.

Match Results

DOUBLES
No. 1 -- JoAnne Karaitiana/Nataliya Shatkovskaya (OSU) def. Ana-Maria Constantinescu/Maria Kalasnikova 8-6
No. 2 -- Tara Eckel/Marie-Pier Huet (OU) def. Iryna Khatsko/Alisa Buslaieva 8-5
No. 3 -- Maryna Tkachenko/Sasha Belova (OSU) def. Peta Maree Lancaster/Kristina Radan 8-5
Order of finish: 2,3,1*

SINGLES
No. 1 Â– Ana-Maria Constantinescu (OU) def. JoAnne Karaitiana 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 Â– Nataliya Shatkovskaya (OSU) def. Maria Kalashnikova 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 Â– Iryna Khatsko (OSU) def. Kristina Radan 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 Â– Marie-Pier Huet (OU) def. Maryna Tkachenko 6-4, 6-0
No. 5 Â– Peta Maree Lancaster (OU) def. Alisa Buslaieva 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 Â– Sasha Belova (OSU) def. Brittany Baldy 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 3,1,4,2,5,6*