Three Cowgirls into Round of 16 at Riviera/ITA All-American Championships

Updated Draws

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Three members of Oklahoma State women's tennis team advanced into the main singles draw round of 16 Thursday afternoon at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club. Cowgirls Viktoriya Lushkova, Katarina Adamovic and Vladica Babic each turned in three-set wins over top-25 opponents to move on into the second round of the main draw.

"I am proud of all three girls for the way they competed today," head coach Chris Young said. "Coach (Matt) Manasse did a great job on court with the game plan and they each executed."

After one day of main draw action, Oklahoma State, North Carolina and Florida are the only schools with multiple players still alive in singles, and the Cowgirls boast the most still competing with three.

After advancing through qualifying, Lushkova was matched up with No. 22 Taylor Davidson of Stanford in her first-round match. While it was Davidson that tallied the point that would push the Cardinal past the Cowgirls in the 2016 NCAA Championship match, it was a Cowgirl that was on the high side Thursday, as Lushkova posted a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory that also served as her 22^nd-straight win dating back to last season.

"I am really happy with the way Viktoriya is playing," Young said. "She is competing well and has won four matches against great competition to advance to the round of 16. Viki lost to Davidson last year in the round of 32 and we know how tough of a competitor she is from the NCAA finals last year, so that was a nice win."

Babic posted the biggest upset of the day, earning a three-set decision over Mississippi State's Jasmine Lee, the fifth seed at Riviera and the eighth-ranked player in the country. Babic rebounded from a 6-1 loss in the first set to take the next two frames and the match, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

"Vladi's win shows her continued development," Young said. "That is a signature of our program, the fact our girls continue to develop. Vladi lost 6-1,6-1 in this event last year to Jasmine Lee, so just like Viki did with Davidson, she turned the result around this year. Vladi is really playing well this fall and has four really solid wins to start the year now."

Seeded seventh, Adamovic geared up to face a challenging test in 15^th-ranked Saska Gavrilovska of Texas A&M. Adamovic jumped on Gavrilovska from the start, earning a 6-2 win in the first set. The Aggie battled back to edge Adamovic, 7-5, in the second, but the Cowgirl senior closed out the match in the third set, pulling away late with a 6-4 third-set win.

"This was a fun match for Kat to play someone from Serbia who she has known for some time," Young said. "Gavrilovska has been one of the best players in the country during her career so it was a fun battle and Kat came up clutch with an ace on match point to clinch. She is at her best when the pressure is on and today was no different."

Adamovic and Babic teamed up in doubles to take on Pepperdine's Christine Maddox and Mayar Sherif Ahmed in the first round of the main doubles draw, but came up short, 8-3.

The Cowgirls will compete in the round of 16 beginning tomorrow at 12:45 p.m. Lushkova will face No. 23 Aldila Sutjiadi of Kentucky. Adamovic will take on Pepperdine's No. 48 Mayar Sherif Ahmed, while Babic will match up with UCLA's Ena Shibahara.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Three Cowgirls into Round of 16 at Riviera/ITA All-American Championships

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Katarina Adamovic

Vladica Babic

Viktoriya Lushkova

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