Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Gear Up for Showdown with Longhorns
March 13, 2013 | Cowgirl Tennis
Oklahoma State's women's tennis team will travel to Austin, Texas this weekend to face the 39th-ranked Texas Longhorns.
The match will take place at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center on Sunday at noon. The Longhorn Network will broadcast the match on a delay at 7 p.m. that evening.
Last Time Out
No. 26 Oklahoma State (7-2) is coming off of a 5-2 victory over No. 36 Kansas State on Saturday in Stillwater. Meghan Blevins and Karyn Guttormsen were dominant in doubles, winning 8-0 on the second court and helping the Cowgirls take the doubles point. Senior C.C. Sardinha clinched the match for Oklahoma State in dramatic fashion, winning five straight games after falling behind 2-5 in her second set to take the match over in straight sets.
Oklahoma State 5, Kansas State 2
March 8, 2013 | DeBois Tennis Complex | Stillwater, Okla.
Doubles | Order of finish: 2,1,3
No. 1 - No. 31 Petra Niedermayerova/Karla Bonacic (KSU) def. Malika Rose/Kanyapat Narattana (OSU) 8-3
No. 2 - Meghan Blevins/Karyn Guttormsen (OSU) def. Ivana Kubickova/Amina St. Hill (KSU) 8-0
No. 3 - Maria Alvarez/C.C. Sardinha (OSU) def. Ana Gomez Aleman/Carmen Borau Ramos 8-5
Singles | Order of finish: 4,6,1,3,5,2
No. 1 - No. 17 Petra Niedermayerova (KSU) def. No. 58 Malika Rose (OSU) 7-5, 6-2
No. 2 - No. 94 Karla Bonacic (KSU) def. Meghan Blevins (OSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 - C.C. Sardinha (OSU) def. Ivana Kubickova (KSU) 6-0, 7-5
No. 4 - Maria Alvarez (OSU) def. Ana Gomez Aleman (KSU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 - Kanyapat Narattana (OSU) def. Amina St. Hall (KSU) 6-1, 2-6, 10-5
No. 6 - Karyn Guttormsen (OSU) def. Carmen Borau Ramos (KSU) 6-4, 6-2
Cowgirls in the Rankings
Oklahoma State's women's tennis team moved up two spots to No. 26 in this week's team rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Tuesday afternoon. Cowgirl senior Malika Rose remained in the ITA singles rankings, coming in at No. 83.
Eyeing the Opponent
Texas enters Sunday's match as the 39th-ranked team in the nation. The Longhorns currently hold a 3-7 record with wins over Wichita State, Utah and Northwestern. Texas is coming off of a 7-0 loss to No. 7 Southern California. All but one of the Longhorns' losses came to teams ranked in the top 20 spots of the ITA rankings. Before facing the Cowgirls on Sunday, Texas must match up with No. 28 Oklahoma on Friday afternoon in Austin.
The Longhorns bring in a roster that boasts two players ranked in the ITA singles rankings and one doubles team ranked in the ITA doubles rankings. In singles, Aeriel Ellis (No. 42) and Breaunna Addison (No. 52) have led the way for Texas so far this season. The Longhorns' top doubles team, made up of Breaunna Addison and Noel Scott, come in at 19th in the latest doubles rankings.
Tough Spring Break Slate
Next week is spring break for most Oklahoma State students, but it will be anything but a break for the Cowgirl tennis team. Oklahoma State has three matches over the next week, all of them against ranked teams. The Cowgirls will be in Austin, Texas on Sunday for a matchup with the 39th-ranked Longhorns, then travel to San Diego, Calif. for a match against No. 6 Nebraska and No. 49 Illinois.
Superb Sardinha
Senior C.C. Sardinha has come on in recent matches, winning five of her last six in the three spot, with the loss coming in a three set match with Tulsa's Michelle Farley. All of the matches Sardinha has won in that span have been in straight sets.
Battle Tested
The Cowgirls have faced a rigorous schedule to open the 2013 season. Through nine matches, the Cowgirls have played eight ranked teams. Of their ten nonconference matches, nine are against opponents appearing in the ITA team rankings. The team has two ranked nonconference opponents left on the schedule in No. 10 Nebraska and No. 37 Illinois. The team will then return to conference play the following weekend to face ranked Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
Phenomenal Freshman
Cowgirl freshman Maria Alvarez has started her first spring season off on the right foot, winning eight of her initial nine matches in the four spot. Alvarez took down her eighth victim of the season last weekend when she defeated Ana Gomez Aleman of Kansas State in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Climbing the Record Books
With her victory over Minnesota's Natallia Pintusava, Cowgirl senior Malika Rose notched her 56th singles victory, and claimed sole possession of the tenth spot on the school's all-time singles wins list. Rose passed Martina Hautova, who had 55 singles wins during her time at Oklahoma State.
In the matches since, Rose has racked up three more singles victories to give her 59 wins and move her up to ninth on the list, passing Lauren Simmons, who holds 57 wins. Rose is only one victory away from tying Sasha Belova in eighth place at 60 wins.
