Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
ITA Central Region Championship
Cowgirls Advance to Final Day of ITA Central Regional
October 19, 2014 | Cowgirl Tennis
STILLWATER - Two Cowgirls, Viktoriya Lushkova and Vladica Babic, will battle it out in Monday's ITA Central Region singles finals. Two OSU doubles teams are also set to compete tomorrow in the doubles semifinals.
"I can't say enough good things about the way our girls are competing this weekend," coach Chris Young said. "It's obvious that we've had good results, but I'm more impressed with how we have competed. It was tough for Viki and Kat to play each other, and it won't be an easy final tomorrow but I am proud of our girls and appreciate all of the support we've received this weekend."
In doubles, top-seeded and 27th-ranked Viktoriya Lushkova and Kelsey Laurente made a quick appearance in the quarterfinals, where they dominated Wichita State's Pedrazzi and Kovalova, 8-0, to move on to the semifinals. On Monday, the Cowgirl duo will face the Pump/Trifunovic duo from Wichita State.
The sixth-seeded team of Katarina Adamovic and Vladica Babic took an early 2-1 lead and never looked back en route to defeating the No. 4-seed tandem of Saarteinen/Kuricova from Tulsa, 8-4. The Cowgirls will go head-to-head with Cardona/Luduena of Kansas in the semifinals on Monday.
Three of the four Cowgirls advanced to the singles semifinals, each with dominating wins.
Top-seeded and returning All-American Lushkova took on Marcela Cichon of Tulsa, who she blew past with a decisive 6-1,6-1 win.
Adamovic, the ninth seed, faced Belen Luduena of KU. She had no problem eliminating the Jayhawk with her 6-2, 6-1 win to advance her to the semis.
Babic, who entered the tournament as the No. 14-seed, played 13th-seeded Abbi Melrose of OU. The Cowgirl freshman only gave up three games to the Sooner, defeating her 6-3, 6-0.
Junior Maria Alvarez suffered a 6-1, 6-1 loss to K-State's Sara Castellano in the quarters to knock her out of tournament play.
In the semifinals, Babic was the first Cowgirl to earn her spot in the finals with a 6-2, 6-3 straight-set win over Castellano. The win guaranteed an all-Cowgirls finals match and an eventual Central Region singles champion for the squad for the second year in a row.
On court one, teammates Lushkova and Adamovic battled it out. Lushkova took the first set 6-3, but Adamovic pushed back in the second, taking the set to a tiebreaker, where she claimed the second set 7-6(4). Lushkova answered with a 6-1 win in the third set to advance to Monday's finals.
Doubles semifinals are scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday morning and will be followed by the doubles finals at 11:15. The singles finals will take place at 1:30 p.m.
Cowgirl fans can keep up with live scoring here or follow the Cowgirls on Twitter at @CowgirlTennis.
Oklahoma State results
ITA Central Region Championships :: Oct. 19, 2014 :: Stillwater, Okla.
Doubles
No. 27 Lushkova/Laurente (OSU) def. Pedrazzi/Kovalova (WSU), 8-0
Adamovic/Babic (OSU) def. Saarteinen/Kuricova (TU), 8-4
Singles
Quarterfinals
No. 26 Viktoriya Lushkova (OSU) def. Marcela Cichon (TU), 6-1, 6-1
Katarina Adamovic (OSU) def. Belen Luduena (KU), 6-1, 6-2
Vladica Babic (OSU) def. Abbi Melrose (OU), 6-3, 6-0
Sara Castellano (KSU) def. Maria Alvarez (OSU), 6-1, 6-1
Semifinals
Vladica Babic (OSU) def. Sara Castellano (KSU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 26 Viktoriya Lushkova (OSU) def. Katarina Adamovic (OSU) , 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1
