Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Missouri
Cowgirl Tennis Advances at Big 12 Championships
April 28, 2011 | Cowgirl Tennis
April 28, 2011
WACO, Texas – The ninth-seeded Oklahoma State women's tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2011 Big 12 Championships in thrilling fashion on Thursday with a 4-3 win over No. 73-ranked and eighth-seeded Missouri at the Baylor Tennis Center.
In a dual match that took five hours to complete, OSU sophomore Malika Rose finally sealed the Cowgirl win as she defeated Missouri's Maria Christensen at No. 4 singles to break a 3-3 tie and send the Cowgirls to tomorrow's quarterfinal match against Baylor.
“These are the matches that are fun to be a part of,” coach Chris Young said. “Win or lose, both teams competed very hard. I am just proud of Malika. She was up 4-1 in the second and lost and she regained her composure. It is the second time in our last four matches that it came down to her and she has pulled it through. It is something she can continue to build on.”
Rose, who also won a clinching last match finished against Kansas on April 15, holds the best singles dual record on the squad this year at 16-6.
The Cowgirls swept the doubles point with wins from Nataliya Shatkovskaya and Kanyapat Narattana, 8-6, at the No. 1 spot and C.C. Sardinha and Leyla Simmons at the No. 3 spot, 9-7.
The Tigers answered to start singles play by picking up three-straight wins at Nos. 1-3 to go up 3-1 and come within one team point of advancing.
With the Cowgirls needing to win all three remaining matches to stay alive, freshman Kanyapat Narattana, senior Sarah Meghoufel and Rose all answered the challenge and defeated their Missouri opponents at Nos. 5, 6 and 4, respectively, to complete the remarkable come-back and earn the 4-3 win.
“I am so proud of our girls for this win,” Young said. “We have had our share of tough losses but we came here ready to compete and that says a lot about our girls and the future of this program.”
Oklahoma State improves to 8-15 on the year with the win while Missouri falls to 12-10. The Cowgirls take on top-seeded and seventh-ranked Baylor at 6 p.m. Friday in the last quarterfinal match of the day. The Bears defeated the Cowgirls 6-1 when they met earlier this season.
“I think our girls will come out and compete, because we have nothing to lose,” Young said. “We are just taking it one match at a time and every match we get to play extends our season. Obviously, we know how tough Baylor is, but we can go for it and see how it goes.”
(9)Oklahoma State 4, (8)Missouri 3
DOUBLES | 1,3
No. 1 - Nataliya Shatkovskaya/Kanyapat Narattana (OSU) def. Mallory Weber/Marlen Hacke (MU) 8-6
No. 2 - Sasha Belova/Malika Rose (OSU) vs. Kaitlyn Ritchie/Maria Christensen (MU) DNF
No. 3 - C.C. Sardinha/Leyla Simmons (OSU) def. Jamie Mera/Rachel Stuhlamm (MU) 9-7
SINGLES | Order of finish: 2,1,3,5,6,4
No. 1 - Kaitlyn Ritchie (MU) def. Nataliya Shatkovskaya (OSU) 6-3,6-2
No. 2 - Mallory Weber (MU) def. Sasha Belova (OSU) 6-3,6-4
No. 3 - Marlen Hacke (MU) def. CC Sardinha (OSU) 6-2,7-6(5)
No. 4 - Malika Rose (OSU) def. Maria Christensen (MU) 7-5,6-7(4),6-4
No. 5 - Kanyapat Narattana (OSU) def. Jamie Mera (MU) 7-5,6-2
No. 6 - Sarah Meghoufel (OSU) def. Rachel Stuhlmann (MU) 3-6,6-0,6-2
Players Mentioned
