Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Tennis Set for ITA Kick-Off
January 28, 2011 | Cowgirl Tennis
Jan. 28, 2011
STILLWATER – The No. 64 Oklahoma State women's tennis team travels to Waco, Texas this weekend for the 2011 ITA Kick-Off Weekend, opening with No. 48 Rice Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Cowgirls are the No. 3 seed of the four teams at the site, while the Owls are seeded second. Host Baylor, the No. 1 seed and the third-ranked team nationally, faces fourth-seeded and No. 55-ranked Alabama at 11 a.m. Saturday. The losers of the two matches compete with each other Sunday at 11 a.m., while the winners square off Sunday at 1 p.m. for a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
OSU enters the event with a 1-1 record, defeating Mississippi State, 6-1, and falling to No. 60 North Texas, 4-3, last weekend. Senior Nataliya Shatkovskaya and freshman Kanyapat Narattana have teamed for a 2-0 record at No. 1 doubles this year, while Narattana and sophomores C.C. Sardinha and Malika Rose all hold perfect 2-0 singles records.
Rice also sits at 1-1 in 2011 after defeating Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 7-0, and falling to No. 16 Texas, 7-0. In addition to the No. 48 team ranking, two Owl athletes are ranked among the best collegiate singles players, including No. 101 Dominique Harmath and No. 114 Rebekka Hänle.
Other ranked athletes at the Waco site include Baylor's Sona Novakova (No. 19 singles), Nina Secerbegovic (No. 40 singles) and Karolina Filipiak (No. 122 singles) and Alabama's Mary Anne Macfarlane (No. 15 singles), Alexa Guarachi (No. 63 singles) and Courtney McLane (No. 72 singles). Guarachi and McLane are also the sixth-ranked doubles team, while Antonia Foehse and Macfarlane are ranked 32nd.
Live stats for all of this weekend's matches, which will be played at the Baylor-Hurd Tennis Building, are available at http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/w-tennis/11-indoorqualifier.html.
