Cowgirls Travel To Texas For Weekend Matches

The Basics

Oklahoma State's women's tennis squad, ranked No. 17, will head south to the state of Texas for a pair of Big 12 matches this weekend.

The Cowgirls travel to Austin for a match against the Texas Longhorns on Friday afternoon.

OSU will face the Baylor Bears on Sunday afternoon in Waco at 1 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center.

Keep Up With The Match

Fans can follow all of this weekend's action by following the Cowgirls on Twitter, @CowgirlTennis.

In the ITA Rankings

The Cowgirls enter the match ranked No. 17 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.

March Madness

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

The Cowgirls own 10 wins against teams that have appeared in the Oracle/ITA rankings so far this season through 18 matches. The Cowgirls are 4-1 in the month of March, including three-straight shutouts.

The Cowgirls also own two wins against Alabama, who was ranked as high as No. 13 in the country. OSU picked a midweek top 25 win against No. 21 Tulsa earlier this week with a 4-0 shutout inside the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center.

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.

11 of the 14 Cowgirl wins have come at home and the Pokes have outscored opponents, 77-23, through the first 18 matches of the spring season.

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

Scouting The Opponents

The Longhorns enter Friday's match with a 9-5 record, including a 6-0 record at home. Texas is riding a two-match win streak after defeating Kansas State and Northwestern.
Breaunna Addison is the only Longhorn ranked in singles (No. 12) and Addison and partner Dani Wagland are ranked No. 17 in the ITA doubles rankings. The Cowgirls took down the Longhorns in a 4-1 match last season in Stillwater.

Baylor enters the weekend with a 7-11 record. The Bears are 1-1 in Big 12 play so far this season. Baylor's duo of Blair Shankle and Kiah Generette are ranked No. 14 in the ITA doubles rankings. The Bears defeated the Cowgirls 4-0 last season in Stillwater.

Chasing History

The current Cowgirl lineup is one of the most successful in school history and multiple Cowgirls are rewriting the record books with each match.

Maria Alvarez currently ranks 5th in career singles wins during the Big 12 era with 74. A trio of juniors are also quickly making Cowgirl history. Carla Tur Mari's 66 wins are good enough for the 8th spot on the career wins list during the Big 12 era, Viktoriya Lushkova's 62 wins are good for the 10th spot and Katarina Adamovic is currently 16th on the career wins list.

Dominant Doubles

The Cowgirls have had one of the most dominant doubles lineups in the country. OSU has won 17 of 18 doubles points so far this season.

All three main Cowgirl duos are ranked in the ITA doubles rankings. Kelsey Laurente and Maria Alvarez, ranked No. 23, leading the charge for the Pokes at the No. 1 position.

Viktoriya Lushkova and Carla Tur Mari, ranked No. 38, have accounted for 23 doubles victories this season, including a 16-1 record in dual matches.

Katarina Adamovic and Vladica Babic, ranked No. 45, have put together a 19-3 record this season, with 14 wins in spring competition.

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

Related News

Players Mentioned

Katarina Adamovic

Maria Alvarez

Kelsey Laurente

Carla Tur Mari

Related Videos