Cowgirls Serve Up Fall Season at Hall of Fame Grass Court Invitational

Friday, September 16

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Oklahoma State University

Hall of Fame Grass Court Invitational

Cowgirls Serve Up Fall Season at Hall of Fame Grass Court Invitational

September 14, 2016 | Cowgirl Tennis

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STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State women's tennis opens up the 2016 fall slate this Friday as it travels to Newport, R.I. to compete at the inaugural International Tennis Hall of Fame Grass Court Collegiate Invitational at Bill Talbert Stadium. The three-day event features eight of the top men's and women's teams in the country. On the women's side, the Cowgirls are joined by No. 2 California, No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 55 Harvard.

The occasion will mark the first time a major collegiate invitational will be hosted at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which held the first U.S. National Championships (the precursor to the U.S. Open) in 1881.

Cowgirl Lineup
The Cowgirls are expected to send five players to this weekend's event, including senior Carla Tur Mari, junior Vladica Babic and sophomore Katarina Stresnakova. The event will also allow fans a first look at sophomore Sofia Blanco, who sat out the 2015-16 season, and newcomer Lena Ruppert.

Watch Live
Fans can catch the action at the International Tennis Hall of Fame on FloTennis.com, which will be streaming the matches at the event beginning Friday at 9 a.m. CT here.

Oklahoma State from a Distance
Oklahoma State returns five contributing letterwinners from a 2015-16 campaign that saw the Cowgirls post the best finish in program history, earning the title of NCAA Runners-Up. Last season, OSU racked up a 29-5 record on the way to earning the program's first Big 12 Championship in 13 years, thanks in part to a 9-0 conference record.

The OSU roster is headlined by three standout seniors in Katarina Adamovic, Viktoriya Lushkova and Carla Tur Mari. Adamovic is coming off an impressive junior season that saw the Cacak, Serbia native earn her first ITA All-American honor by way of advancing to the NCAA individual quarterfinals last summer. A two-time All-American and the 2015 Big 12 Co-Player of the Year, Lushkova has been a key to the Cowgirls' unprecedented success as well, riding into the fall season on an 18-match win streak. Tur Mari provided a major boost to the back end of the OSU singles lineup in 2016, going 22-8 in the No. 6 spot.

Also returning for the Cowgirls are junior Vladica Babic and sophomore Katarina Stresnakova. Babic tallied six victories over ranked opponents in 2016, including a triumph over No. 28 Kennedy Shaffer of Georgia to help push the Cowgirls to a win over the Bulldogs in the NCAA Sweet 16. The highlight of Stresnakova's first season in Stillwater came in the NCAA Tournament, when the Slovakia product took down Ferny Angeles Paz of Ohio State in the NCAA quarterfinals to clinch the win over the Buckeyes and push the Cowgirls in to the national semifinals.

The Cowgirls boasted one of the most impressive doubles records in the country in 2016, winning all but one doubles point in 34 matches. With the level of talent set to return, that success figures to continue this upcoming season.

Head coach Chris Young enters his eighth season at the helm of the Cowgirl tennis program after earning his 100th win with the program last season. Young is assisted by second-year assistant coach Matt Manasse.

Eyeing the Opponents
Aside from the Cowgirls, the International Tennis Hall of Fame Grass Court Collegiate Invitational field includes seven ranked singles players and two ranked doubles teams.

No. 7 Maegan Manasse leads second-ranked California after posting a 27-13 overall record in 2016. Manasse is joined in the rankings by Golden Bears Denise Starr (No. 62), Olivia Hauger (No. 86) and Karla Popovic (No. 90).

Sixteenth-ranked Georgia Tech's roster boasts three ranked singles players, led by No. 20 Johnnise Renaud who went 24-14 in 2016. No. 23 Paige Hourigan and No. 77 Rasheeda McAdoo round out the list of ranked Yellow Jackets.

After a 12-11 record in 2016, Harvard finished the season ranked No. 55. Harvard is led by Amy He, who led the team in victories last season with 26.

Notable Streaks and Trends
- The Cowgirls have spent 40 consecutive weeks in the ITA top 25. The last time OSU was outside the top 25 was
March 18, 2014.
- The Cowgirls have won 20 or more matches in each of the last two seasons.
- Oklahoma State has won 14-straight regular season conference matches dating back to March 29, 2015, when the Cowgirls came up short, 4-3, at Texas Tech.
- Since 2012, OSU has made five-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. That streak is the second-longest in program history behind a 10-year streak that saw the Cowgirls earn NCAA Tournament berths from 1982-91.
- Senior Viktoriya Lushkova enters the 2016 fall season on an 18-match singles win streak.

Super Seniors
The experienced Cowgirl roster includes three seniors this season, all of which have been major contributors to the growth of the OSU women's tennis program. Katarina Adamovic, Carla Tur Mari and Viktoriya Lushkova have combined for 199 wins, three All-America honors and 10 All-Big 12 accolades while helping the Cowgirls to a 68-20 record.

Record Watch
- Viktoriya Lushkova's .820 career win percentage in singles ranks second all-time in program history. She is the first player since Kate Vasylyeva in 2003 to break onto that list.
- With 73 career singles wins, Viktoriya Lushkova is currently tied with Dominika Olszewska for sixth on the Big 12 era career list. She is sixth on the doubles Big 12 era list with 74 career wins.
- With 69 career doubles wins, Katarina Adamovic sits tied for 10th with Kanyapat Narattana and Maria Alvarez on the program Big 12 era career doubles wins list. With an .802 win percentage in doubles, Adamovic's doubles win percentage leads the Big 12 era list in that category as well.
- With 71 career doubles wins and 72 career singles wins, Carla Tur Mari sits in eighth and ninth, respectively, in the Big 12 era program record book in those categories.

Fall Outlook
The Cowgirls have a busy 2016 fall slate on tap that includes tests against some of the strongest teams and athletes in collegiate tennis, beginning with the Hall of Fame Grass Court Invitational this weekend that features players from four ranked teams.

Following their weekend in Rhode Island, the Cowgirls will gear up for a challenging October in which the team will compete at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and the ITA Central Region Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. While much of the team is in Minneapolis, senior Katarina Adamovic will compete at the Oracle/ITA Masters from Oct. 13-16 in Malibu, Calif., which features 32 of the elite singles players from around the country.

If any Cowgirl singles player or doubles team is victorious at the ITA Central Region Championships, they'll advance to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y., from Nov. 3-6. Meanwhile, the Cowgirls are set to compete at the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.

Cowgirls in the ITA Rankings
Oklahoma State women's tennis senior Katarina Adamovic is ranked No. 10 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason singles rankings, leading a slew of Cowgirls that appear in the preseason singles and doubles polls released Tuesday. Adamovic's No. 10 ranking ties for the highest in program history, matching fellow senior Viktoriya Lushkova's No. 10 ranking in 2015.

Adamovic also appears in the ITA doubles rankings with teammate Vladica Babic, coming in at No. 32.

Babic lands in the singles rankings at No. 25 after a 2016 season that saw the Montenegro product turn in a 27-9 overall record in singles.

Senior Viktoriya Lushkova enters the 2016-17 season at No. 39 in the ITA singles rankings. Lushkova and senior Carla Tur Mari team up to rank No. 36 in the ITA doubles poll after a 34-7 season in 2016.

Among the Elite
As if the Oklahoma State women's tennis program needed further proof of its arrival on the national stage after last season's NCAA Runner-Up finish, the numbers back up the Cowgirls as well. OSU is one of only 12 NCAA Division I teams to win 20 or more matches in both of the last two seasons.

Adding to that stat, OSU has won 52 matches over the last two seasons as well, making it the second-winningest program in the country over that span behind only North Carolina. A look at the full list:

Team Win Total (2015 & 2016)
North Carolina 61
Oklahoma State 52
Ohio State 51
Wichita State 51
Michigan 49
Vanderbilt 48
Florida 47
Baylor 46
Georgia 46
Texas Tech 46

Young Guns
While the 2016-17 Cowgirl roster boasts plenty of experience, the young talent that head Coach Chris Young has brought on board over the last couple of seasons is evident as well, especially with a pair of newcomers.

Freshman Aliona Bolsova (Spain) joined the Cowgirls this fall after finishing one of the most decorated junior careers of any signee in Cowgirl history, having been been ranked as high as No. 4 in the ITF world junior rankings with a number of impressive wins under her belt.

Freshman Lena Ruppert (Germany) Has been ranked as high as the No. 70 player in Germany, while recording five wins against players in the top-50. Ruppert came to OSU this fall rated as one of the top-10 players under the age of 18.

Home, Sweet Home
The Cowgirls are scheduled to play 11 matches at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center this upcoming season. Fans won't have to wait long to see OSU either, with the team's first six dual matches set in Stillwater.