Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
ITA Central Region Championship
Cowgirls Crowned ITA Central Region Champions
October 20, 2014 | Cowgirl Tennis
STILLWATER - Oklahoma State women's tennis team took home the singles and doubles titles of the ITA Central Region Championships at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center on Monday.
"Today was just an amazing accomplishment for our girls to be able to have both teams in the doubles finals, two girls in the singles finals today and three out of the four girls in the semifinals yesterday," coach Chris Young said. "The girls just showed that we had a lot of depth this year. They played well and competed well. It's not easy playing your teammates in matches like that. It put a little bit of an interesting element there and extra pressure, but the girls handled it well all weekend. I'm proud of the entire team because everyone from top to bottom had some good results."
The nation's No. 27 doubles team of Viktoriya Lushkova and Kelsey Laurente flew through their first set over Wichita State's Pump/Trifunovic, 6-0, in the doubles semifinals. The duo continued to dominate in the second set, finishing off the Shockers, 6-0, 6-3.
The Cowgirl tandem of Katarina Adamovic and Vladica Babic exchanged games with the Jayhawks team of Cardona/Luduena early in the first set, but the Cowgirls pulled away and never looked back, defeating the Jayhawks, 6-3, 6-0. The win guaranteed an all-OSU final in doubles and singles.
In the doubles finals, Adamovic and Babic came out on fire, shutting down their teammates, 6-2, in the first set, but Lushkova and Laurente responded with a dominating 6-1 win in the second, forcing the match to a super tiebreaker. The 10-point tiebreaker was closely contested, but it was the top-seeded Lushkova/Laurente duo that took the victory, 10-8.
The win advanced Lushkova and Laurente to New York City to compete in doubles at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships on Nov. 6-9.
OSU was guaranteed its second-consecutive and second overall ITA Central Region singles champion as Lushkova and Babic went at it for the title.
The two Cowgirls fought it out, but it was returning All-American Lushkova who came out victorious with a 6-4, 6-2 win over the freshman.
Lushkova will also represent OSU in singles at the Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in November.
Oklahoma State results
ITA Central Regional :: Oct. 20, 2014 :: Stillwater, Okla.
Doubles
Semifinals
No. 27 Lushkova/Laurente (OSU) def. Pump/Trifunovic (WSU), 6-0, 6-3
Adamovic/Babic (OSU) def. Cardona/Luduena (KU), 6-3, 6-0
Finals
No. 27 Lushkova/Laurente (OSU) def. Adamovic/Babic (OSU), 2-6, 6-1, 10-8
Singles
Finals
No. 26 Viktoriya Lushkova (OSU) def. Vladica Babic (OSU), 6-4, 6-2
