Cowgirls Travel To Face USC

Match Notes - USC
The Basics

Oklahoma State's women's tennis squad, ranked No. 13, hits the road again for a midweek match against No. 43 USC in Los Angeles. The Cowgirls are 2-3 all-time against the Trojans, with the last meeting coming in 2001, a 6-3 USC victory.

The Cowgirls are coming off of a 5-2 Bedlam victory against Oklahoma on March 5.

OSU has won the last three Bedlam meetings and five of the last six against the Sooners.

Keep Up With The Match

Fans can follow all the action this weekend through updates by following the Cowgirls on Twitter, @CowgirlTennis.

In the ITA Rankings

The Cowgirls enter the match ranked No. 13 in the Oracle/ITA rankings.

Kelsey Laurente and Maria Alvarez are ranked as the No. 15 doubles tandem in the country, jumping 14 spots since the last individual rankings on February 23.

Vladica Babic and Katarina Adamovic hold the No. 45 ranking and Viktoriya Lushkova and Carla Tur Mari are tabbed as the No. 50 pairing in the nation.

Adamovic is the highest ranked Cowgirl in singles, earning the No. 30 spot. Babic is ranked No. 35.

Lushkova checks in at the No. 65 spot in the latest ITA rankings of the spring.

You Have To Beat The Best

Oklahoma State has built one of the best resumes in women's tennis so far this season.

The Cowgirls own nine wins against teams that have appeared in the Oracle/ITA rankings so far this season through 14 matches.

The Cowgirls also own two wins against Alabama, who was ranked as high as No. 13 in the country. OSU also owns a win against a top 15 team in the latest ITA polls: No. 14 Wichita State.

Early Season Dominance

The Cowgirls have taken advantage of tremendous crowds inside the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center during the early part of the season.

Eight of 11 Cowgirl wins have come at home and the Pokes have outscored opponents, 63-18, through the first 14 matches of the spring season.

The Pokes have recorded five shutouts inside the Greenwood Tennis Center this season.

Series History Against USC

1986-87 -@ USC L, 7-2

1988-89 –USC (H) L, 6-3

1989-90 - @USC W, 6-3

1990-91- @ USC W, 5-4

2001-02- USC (N) L, 6-1

Becoming A Tennis Power

Both Oklahoma State tennis programs are gaining national attention in the latest Oracle/ITA rankings.

The Cowgirls are back in the top 15 of the latest rankings. The Cowgirls have been inside the top 15 every week so far this season.

The OSU Cowboys check in the latest rankings at No. 5, the highest ranking for the men's team in program history.

OSU is one of five schools in the country to have both the men's and women's teams ranked inside of the top 15.

Cowgirls Earn Big 12 Honors

Two Cowgirls have earned Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week honors so far this season.

Viktoriya Lushkova was the first Cowgirl to win player of the week honors this spring. The All-American won the award the week of February 9 for her undefeated run at the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship.

Lushkova has been named player of the week three times during her career at OSU.

Kelsey Laurente earned the honor the week of March 2 with four wins at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic.

Laurente helped clinch the Blue Gray Classic title for the Cowgirls, as she and Maria Alvarez upset 12-ranked Matea Cutura and Christine Maddox of Pepperdine in the deciding match of the championship round.

The announcement marked the first time Laurente was named player of the week.

Manasse Joins the Coaching Staff

Oklahoma State Director of Tennis and women's head coach Chris Young announced the addition of Matt Manasse as an assistant coach for the Cowgirls.

Manasse, a graduate from Purdue University, was a three-time letterman for the Boilermakers. Manasse was voted a team captain by his teammates for his senior year in 2010-11.

Manasse enters his first season with the Cowgirls after serving as an assistant at Wisconsin.

ITA Introduces New Dual Match Format

In December, the ITA Division I Operating Committee made changes to the dual match format so that it shortens the length of the match. Changes include:

-No-ad scoring in singles and doubles.

-Three doubles matches played, each match one set to 6, with a tie-break at 6-all.

-Followed (after a 5-minute intermission) by six singles matches, each match 2 out of 3 sets, with tie-breaks at 6-all.

-No warm-up with opponents (in doubles and in singles)

Follow Cowgirl Tennis

Stay up to date with the Oklahoma State women's tennis team on the following social media sites:

Twitter: @CowgirlTennis

Facebook: Oklahoma State Women's Tennis

Snapchat: OSUathletics

YouTube: youtube.com/osuathletics

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Katarina Adamovic

Maria Alvarez

Kelsey Laurente

Carla Tur Mari

Oklahoma State University Athletics