Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Travel to Norman for Big 12 Championships
April 24, 2013 | Cowgirl Tennis
April 24, 2013
STILLWATER -
Oklahoma State's women's tennis team will travel to Norman, Okla., this weekend to compete in the Big 12 Championships. The Cowgirls (13-7, 5-4 Big 12) will kick off the weekend with a showdown against fourth seeded TCU on Friday at noon.
Conference Tournament History
This will be the sixth time in Big 12 tournament history that the Cowgirls have held the tournament's fifth seed. In 2012, Oklahoma State competed as the fifth seed, but was defeated by Texas, 4-1, in its first match of the tournament. The Cowgirls have won the tournament only one time in the Big 12 era, in 2003, and have appeared in the championship game twice, in 2001 and 2003.
Last Time Out
The Cowgirls finished off the 2013 regular season with an exciting victory over Bedlam rival Oklahoma in Stillwater last Saturday. Meghan Blevins came up big for Oklahoma State in both doubles and singles, teaming up with Karyn Guttormsen to notch a 9-8(4) victory on doubles court two to clinch the doubles point, and defeating Whitney Ritchie, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4), on two in singles play to end the match that finished off the Sooners.
No. 37 Oklahoma State 4, No. 36 Oklahoma 3
Doubles | Order of finish: 1,3,2
No. 1 – No. 8 Brhane/Ritchie (OU) def. No. 36 Rose/Narattana (OSU) 8-3
No. 2 – Blevins/Guttormsen (OSU) def. No. 82 Lancaster/Devine (OU) 9-8(4)
No. 3 – Sardinha/Alvarez (OSU) def. Enbrooks/Wofford (OU) 8-5
Singles | Order of finish: 4,6,3,5,1,2
No. 1 – No. 69 Hermon Brhane (OU) def. No. 63 Malika Rose (OSU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 – Meghan Blevins (OSU) def. Whitney Ritchie (OU) 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4)
No. 3 – Mia Lancaster (OU) def. C.C. Sardinha (OSU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 – Kanyapat Narattana (OSU) def. Whitney Wofford (OU) 6-2, 6-0
No. 5 – Maria Alvarez (OSU) def. Abby Melrose (OU) 6-2, 7-5
No. 6 – Emma Devine (OU) def. Karyn Guttormsen (OSU) 6-4, 6-2
Cowgirls in the Rankings
Oklahoma State's women's tennis team jumped five spots to No. 32 in this week's team rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Tuesday.
Cowgirl senior Malika Rose remains at No. 63 in the ITA singles rankings. Rose, along with teammate Kanyapat Narattana, also represents Oklahoma State in the ITA doubles rankings. The duo is up five spots from last week to No. 31.
Around the Big 12
Oklahoma State finished the Big 12 regular season in fifth place in the conference standings. The Baylor Bears ended up in the conference's top spot with an 8-1 record in Big 12 play. Texas Tech sits in the second spot, followed by Texas at No. 3 and TCU at No. 4. Oklahoma's loss to the Cowgirls last Saturday put them in the sixth spot to end the season.
The Big 12 Conference features seven teams ranked in the ITA team rankings, including three teams ranked in the top 25. All of the conference's teams combine to feature nine players appearing in the ITA singles rankings and 11 doubles teams appearing in the ITA doubles rankings.
Ace in the Classroom
Oklahoma State women's tennis senior C.C. Sardinha has been named to the 2013 first team Academic All-Big 12 tennis team, the league office announced on Tuesday. Sardinha was also named to the Academic All-Big 12 tennis team in 2012, making this her second time to receive the honor.
Climbing the Record Books
With her win over Stefanie Tan of TCU, Malika Rose earned her 63rd career singles victory, tying Kate Vasylyeva for seventh place on the program's all-time singles wins list. Rose now sits four wins back from Kate Kolodynska in the sixth spot.
Phenomenal Freshman
With her victory over Iowa State's Ana Gasparovic, Cowgirl freshman Maria Alvarez earned her 20th overall win of the season. Alvarez is the eighth freshman in school history to reach the single-season 20-win mark. The freshman won eight matches in tournament play last fall and has notched 12 dual wins over the course of this spring. With her win last weekend, Alvarez tied Meghan Blevins for the sixth-highest single season win total for a freshman in school history at 21 total wins.
