Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Primed for ITA Kickoff Weekend in Chicago
January 22, 2014 | Cowgirl Tennis
Jan. 22, 2014
STILLWATER - Oklahoma State's women's tennis team will travel to Chicago, Ill., this weekend to compete at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. ITA Kickoff Weekend is held at several different sites around the nation, each site hosting a field of four teams. The other teams that will be competing at the Chicago site include No. 21 Notre Dame, 26th-ranked Arizona State and the host team, No. 15 Northwestern.
The 29th-ranked Cowgirls will begin the tournament -style event by facing Northwestern on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Notre Dame and Arizona State will face off on Saturday as well. The winners of both matches will clash on Sunday for a berth at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Live scoring for all of this weekend's matches can be found by following @CowgirlTennis on Twitter or by following this link: http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/spec-rel/nw-w-tennis-livestats.html
Matchup History
This Saturday will be the third all-time meeting between Oklahoma State and Northwestern. The last matchup between the two programs was in 1988. In that meeting, the Cowgirls knocked off the Wildcats, 8-1.
Oklahoma State is winless against Notre Dame in two previous matches. In 2001, the Irish knocked off the Cowgirls, 5-2.
Oklahoma State and Arizona State have clashed four times in the schools' histories, with both the Cowgirls and the Sun Devils taking two wins. The last time the two programs collided was in 1989. Oklahoma State rolled the Sun Devils in that meeting, 6-1.
Eyeing the Opponents
Northwestern enters ITA Kickoff Weekend slotted as the 15th-ranked team in the nation. The Wildcats' Belinda Niu is ranked No. 105 in the latest ITA singles rankings. Northwestern is strong in doubles with three doubles teams appearing in the ITA doubles rankings, including the 35th-ranked tandem of Veronica Corning and Alicia Barnett.
No. 21 Notre Dame is coming off 7-0 victories over both Western Michigan and IUPUI last weekend to start off their fall season. Quinn Gleason of the Fighting Irish comes in at No. 67 in the most recent ITA singles rankings. Notre Dame's roster also boasts the 26th and 30th-ranked doubles teams in the nation.
Arizona State enters ITA Kickoff Weekend following two wins over Northern Arizona during a double header last Saturday. Arizona State's Stephanie Vlad and Desirae Krawczyk appear in the ITA singles rankings at No. 50 and 91, respectively.
Cowgirls in the Rankings
Oklahoma State's women's tennis team will begin the 2014 spring season as the 29th-ranked team in the nation, according to the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
Kanyapat Narattana will begin the dual season at No. 59 in the ITA singles rankings. The ranking comes on the heels of a successful fall season for Narattana that saw the senior notch a 10-5 singles record and take home the ITA Central Region singles title.
Last Time Out
Oklahoma State competed at the Hawaii Pacific Hidden Duals last weekend in Maui, Hawaii, notching a 20-11 overall record. The Cowgirls were impressive in doubles play, winning eight of eleven matches. Each Oklahoma State doubles team was victorious in two matches over the course of the tournament. Junior Karyn Guttormsen and freshman Viktoriya Lushkova led the Cowgirls in singles, winning two of their three matches.
Top Ten and Counting
Cowgirl Kanyapat Narattana's huge fall season has propelled the senior into top ten in the Oklahoma State record books for both career singles and doubles wins in the Big 12 era. Narattana enters her final spring season with 60 career singles victories, tied for ninth in the record book with Sasha Belova. Narattana currently holds 53 doubles wins and sits in ninth after passing Martina Hautova with two wins this weekend.
Shooting for 50
Cowgirl tennis coach Chris Young has notched 48 wins during his first four seasons in Stillwater, putting him only two wins away from the 50 win mark. Two more Cowgirl victories would make Young the fourth women's tennis coach in Oklahoma State history to reach 50 wins while with the program.
Scheduling Tough
Much like last season, Oklahoma State's women's tennis schedule is loaded with quality opponents. The 2014 Cowgirl tennis schedule features 23 potential opponents, and 18 of those teams appear in the latest ITA team rankings. Oklahoma State has 11 guaranteed matches with ranked teams, and appearances at the 2014 Blue-Gray Tennis Classic provide potential matchups with No. 21 Notre Dame, 26th-ranked Arizona State, No. 12 Alabama, No. 23 Auburn, 22nd-ranked Rice, No. 53 Tulane and No. 36 Yale. The Big 12 is packed with top-notch competition once again this season, with seven of the conference's twelve teams currently ranked.
Fantastic Freshmen
Freshmen Megan McCray and Carla Tur Mari were outstanding for the Cowgirls this fall. McCray notched an impressive 11-4 singles record during the tournament season, with six of those wins coming against opponents appearing in the ITA singles rankings. McCray posted a 6-2 mark against ranked opponents. Carla Tur Mari has also played well this fall, posting a 9-7 record in singles play.
Fresh Faces
The 2013-14 season has brought several changes to the Cowgirl tennis roster. The team returns three players from the 2013 spring campaign but head coach Chris Young has brought on seven newcomers to the squad. The newcomers include sophomore transfer from Kansas State Miranda Erisman, as well as freshmen Megan McCray, Morgan McCray, Mariah Burke and Carla Tur Mari. Last Friday, Young announced the addition of Katarina Adamovic and Viktoriya Lushkova to the Cowgirl tennis roster.
Among the new faces is first year assistant coach Courtney Steinbock. Steinbock, a native of Lubbock, Texas, was brought into the program earlier this summer after spending three years as assistant coach at Mississippi State. Steinbock has also held positions at Wichita State, Washington State and her alma mater, the University of Kansas.
Keeping the Streak Alive
Over the past couple of seasons, senior Cowgirl Kanyapat Narattana and former teammate Malika Rose have become staples in the ITA doubles rankings, reaching as high as No. 14 in last fall's preseason rankings. Although Rose is gone, Narattana was featured in the 2013-14 preseason rankings, along with freshman Carla Tur Mari. Narattana is currently ranked at No. 59 in the ITA singles rankings The last time Narattana didn't appear in the ITA singles or doubles rankings was March 27, 2012.
