Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Tennis Hosts Busy Weekend
March 24, 2011 | Cowboy Tennis
March 24, 2011
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State tennis hosts a big weekend of competition this week, as the Cowboys and Cowgirls both face a pair of top opponents from the Big 12. Over the three-day period, the DeBois Tennis Complex in Stillwater will host three top-10 teams, 12 ranked singles players and 10 ranked doubles tandems.
The action gets underway Friday at 2 p.m. as the Oklahoma State men take on No. 6 Texas A&M. The women begin their competition Saturday at 1 p.m. against No. 9 Baylor and the weekend is capped by a Sunday doubleheader featuring the Cowgirls against No. 49 Texas Tech at 11 a.m. followed by the Cowboys against No. 4 Texas at the conclusion of the women's match.
In addition to the opportunity to see some of the best tennis in the country, fans attending the matches have several other chances to be rewarded. The first 50 people to Saturday's matchup with Baylor will receive free Chick-fil-A gift cards while free Pizza Hut pizza will be available to fans between matches of Sunday's doubleheader.
OSU's men's squad enters the weekend with a 3-6 record after falling to No. 59 SMU, 6-1, in its home-opener on Tuesday. The Cowboys, who open Big 12 play against the Aggies, have won three of their last six matches and hold an overall record of 3-6. Freshman Maniel Bains has played at the No. 1 spot for all of OSU's dual matches this season and is ranked as the No. 110 player in the country. Rifat Biktyakov and Aleksey Bessonov make up the No. 1 doubles team and are the 13th-ranked team in the nation with a record of 3-1.
The Cowgirls enter the weekend with a Big 12 mark of 1-1 and an overall record of 4-8 after splitting road matches against Iowa State and Nebraska last weekend. OSU, which hosts its first home match of the year against the Bears, has won three of its last five matches. Sophomore Malika Rose has been the most consistent contributor in singles play, boasting a perfect 11-0 mark this spring.
The Texas A&M men, who face the Cowboys in the first dual Friday, hold a 15-4 record on the year and are coming off of a close loss on the road to No. 11 Pepperdine, 4-3. Prior to that match, the Aggies had won 10 consecutive matches including three over opponents ranked in the top six. TAMU boasts three ranked singles athletes (No. 23 Austin Krajicek; No. 62 Jeff Dadamo; No. 100 Alexis Klegou) and three ranked doubles teams (No. 2 Jeff Dadamo/Austin Krajicek; No. 53 Alberto Bautista/Colin Hoover; No. 63 Alexey Grigorov/Junior Ore).
The Texas Longhorns are the Cowboys' Sunday opponent and enter the weekend with a 13-4 record after topping St. Edward's, 7-0, in their last match. UT, who opens conference play Friday at Oklahoma, is home to a trio of ranked singles athletes (No. 33 Ed Corrie; No. 80 Jean Andersen; No. 90 Kellen Damico) and four ranked doubles teams (No. 5 Ed Corrie/Jean Andersen; No. 28 Kellen Damico/David Holiner; No. 50 Ben Chen/Daniel Whitehead; No. 71Ben Chen/Vasko Mladenov).
Baylor faces the Cowgirls on Saturday and holds an overall record of 12-3 (1-1). The Bears are coming off a 4-3 win over SMU and have won four of their last five dual matches. Five BU singles players hold spots in the ITA rankings (No. 19 Sona Novakova; No. 34 Nina Secerbegovic; No. 44 Diana Nakic; No. 116 Karolina Filipiak; No. 119 Jelena Stanivuk) and a pair of doubles teams (No. 42 Sona Novakova/Nina Secerbegovic; No. 73 Nina Secerbegovic/Jelena Stanivuk).
The final opponent for the OSU women are the Texas Tech Lady Raiders, who hold a record of 12-3, 2-0. TTU faces Oklahoma Friday and is on an eight-match winning streak. Tech's last loss came on Feb. 13 against Arkansas.
All home Cowboy and Cowgirl tennis matches are played at the DeBois Tennis Complex and admission is free.
