Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Tennis Set For Big 12 Championships
April 27, 2011 | Cowboy Tennis
April 27, 2011
STILLWATER, Okla. – The Oklahoma State men's and women's tennis teams head to Waco, Texas this week for the 2011 Big 12 Championships, held April 28-May 1 at the Baylor Tennis Center.
The Cowgirls, seeded ninth, open OSU's trip on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. when they take on the eighth-seeded Missouri. The Cowgirls, who enter the tournament with a record of 7-15 (3-8 Big 12), are on a two-match losing streak after defeating Kansas, 4-3, in Oklahoma City on April 15.
Three Cowgirls enter competition with winning singles dual records this year. Freshman Kanyapat Narattana won the regular season conference title at No. 5 with her 9-2 conference mark and holds a 13-6 singles mark this year, while sophomores Malika Rose and C.C. Sardinha finished the regular season at 15-6 and 12-9 in singles play, respectively.
No. 73 Missouri finished the regular season at 4-7 in Big 12 play and 12-9 overall. The Tigers are coming off of a 7-0 shutout of Colorado and have won three of their last five matches. They are led by their 67th-ranked doubles tandem of Kaitlyn Ritchie and Mallory Weber. The Tigers defeated the Cowgirls, 4-3, earlier this season.
The Oklahoma State men's team is seeded seventh and takes on second-seeded Texas A&M at noon on Friday. The Cowboys are 5-13 (0-6) and have are 2-3 in their past five matches. Maniel Bains leads the Cowboys in singles play as the 113th-ranked singles player, while OSU has two ranked doubles teams in Aleksey Bessonov and Rifat Biktyakov (#28) and Bains and Eric West (#84).
The Aggies of Texas A&M are 24-5 (5-1 Big) and ranked as the No. 9 team in the country. A&M boasts a trio of ranks singles athletes in No. 18 Austin Krajicek, No. 36 Jeff Dadamo and No. 89 Alexis Klegou, as well as a trio of ranked doubles teams in No. 4 Jeff Dadamo and Austin Krajicek, No. 61 Alexey Grigorov and Junior Ore and No. 90 Alberto Bautista and Colin Hoover. TAMU defeated the Cowboys 7-0 earlier this year.
The Cowboys and Cowgirls will advance to the second round of the tournament if they win their first round matchups.
