Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Tennis Hosts Texas A&M
April 10, 2010 | Cowgirl Tennis
April 10, 2010
The Basics
The No. 59 Oklahoma State women's tennis team returns home this weekend, facing No. 41 Texas A&M Sunday at noon at the DeBois Tennis Complex in Stillwater.
About the Cowgirls
Oklahoma State enters the match at 8-6 (2-3) and has won two of its last four matches. The Cowgirls are coming off of losses to Tulsa and Texas, but defeated Missouri and then-No. 65 Colorado in their two prior matches. OSU also had conference losses to No. 1 Baylor and Texas Tech before defeating CU. The Cowgirls, who had won three consecutive matches over Wichita State, Denver and ORU before their loss to Baylor, are ranked No. 59 in the ITA team rankings. OSU has also beaten No. 39 Utah, 4-3, Saint Louis, 6-1, and Central Oklahoma, 7-0, in 2010.
About the Opponent
Texas A&M is ranked No. 41 in the ITA team rankings and enters Sunday's match with a 9-5 record. In addition to the team ranking, the Aggies claim three spots in both the ITA singles and doubles rankings. Elzé Potgieter, Nazari Urbina and Morgan Frank are ranked No. 58, 70 and 116, respectively, in the singles poll, while Frank and Potgieter are No. 43, Potgieter and Urbina are No. 71 and Sheri Olivier and Stephanie Davidson are No. 79 in the doubles poll. Texas A&M has won five of their last six matches and is coming off of a, 4-3, win at Oklahoma. The Aggies hold a 17-10 all-time series advantage over the Cowgirls, with Texas A&M winning the last match in 2009, 5-2.
Last Time Out
In Oklahoma State's last competition, the Cowgirls started the day by losing the doubles point with losses at the No. 2 and 3 lines, but got a decisive upset win from Alisa Buslaieva and Nataliya Shatkovskaya at the No. 1 spot, as the duo defeated Tulsa's No. 21-ranked team of JoAnne Karaitiana and Alexandra Kichoutkin, 8-3. In singles play, OSU lost at the No. 6 spot in the first match finished to go down 2-0, but followed with a straight-set win from Sarah Meghoufel at No. 4 singles to make the score 2-1. After a loss at No. 2 singles and a straight-set win from Sasha Belova over Tulsa's JoAnne Karaitiana at No. 3 singles, Tulsa led, 3-2. Tulsa then claimed the dual with a second-set tiebreaker win at No. 1 singles, but Malika Rose defeated Tulsa's Rebecca Row in a third-set tiebreaker to make the final score 4-3, Golden Hurricane.
Cowgirls in the Rankings
The Cowgirl tennis team made its debut in the 2010 ITA team rankings on Feb. 12, when they received a ranking of No. 73. Oklahoma State has climbed consistently and has been ranked as high as No. 51, which is the Cowgirls' highest ranking since March 2007. In the most recent ITA rankings, OSU received the No. 59 spot.
Up Next
After the Cowgirls take on the Aggies, they travel to Norman, Okla., for an April 14, Bedlam matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners.
