Cowgirls Host In-State Rival Tulsa

The Basics

Oklahoma State's women's tennis squad, ranked No. 18, prepares to host the No. 28 Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Tuesday at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center.

The Cowgirls opened Big 12 play with victories against West Virginia and Iowa State. Both matches were 4-0 sweeps by the Pokes.

Keep Up with the Match

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

In the ITA Rankings

The Cowgirls enter the match ranked No. 18 in the Oracle/ITA rankings.

Kelsey Laurente and Maria Alvarez are ranked as the No. 23 doubles tandem in the country.

Viktoriya Lushkova and Carla Tur Mari moved up 12 spots since the last doubles rankings, now ranked No. 38 in the nation.

Vladica Babic and Katarina Adamovic hold the No. 45 ranking.

Adamovic is the highest ranked Cowgirl in singles, earning the No. 33 spot. Babic is ranked No. 38.

Lushkova checks in at the No. 62 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 17 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 another top 25 team in the latest ITA polls: No. 21 Wichita State.

Home Court Advantage

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

10 of the 13 Cowgirl wins have come at home and the Pokes have outscored opponents, 73-23, through the first 17 matches of the spring season.

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

Scouting Tulsa

The Golden Hurricane enter the match against the Cowgirls riding a four-match win streak, including two wins over Oklahoma and Kansas.

Tulsa comes to Stillwater with 16 matches and only two losses. The Golden Hurricane own five road wins this season.

The last match between the Cowgirls and Golden Hurricane resulted in a 4-3 victory for the Cowgirls in Tulsa.

Becoming A Tennis Power

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

The Cowgirls are in the top 20 of the latest rankings. The Cowgirls have been inside the top 25 every week so far this season.

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

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 letterwinner 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

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Katarina Adamovic

Maria Alvarez

Kelsey Laurente

Carla Tur Mari

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