Cowgirls Set to Face College Tennis Blue Bloods in Florida

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STILLWATER – The fifth-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team sets its sights on a huge weekend in Florida that will present the team's toughest tests of the 2017 season.

The weekend will begin in Lake Nona, Fla., on Friday at 6 p.m. ET, as OSU will face No. 5 Stanford in a 2016 national championship rematch before heading to Gainesville on Saturday for a match against the top-ranked Florida Gators at 4 p.m. ET.

College MatchDay
Catch the Cowgirls' match against the defending champion Cardinal on ESPN3 as part of the College MatchDay series.

Watch Saturday's Match
Saturday's match against the No. 1 Gators can be streamed for free on FloridaGators.com.

About the Cowgirls
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.

Notable Streaks and Trends
• The Cowgirls have spent 46 consecutive weeks in the ITA top 25, and seven straight in the top 10. The last time OSU was outside the top 25 was March 18, 2014.
vThe 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.
• OSU has won 27-straight matches at the Greenwood Tennis Center, dating back to March of 2015.
• The Cowgirls were impressive during the fall, racking up a 65-16 (.802) overall singles record and a 28-14 (.667) overall mark in doubles.
• That success has continued this spring, as OSU opened the 2017 dual season with six sweeps in its first nine matches.

Last Time Out
The fifth-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team rallied back to knock off eighth-ranked California Sunday afternoon in consolation action at the ITA Indoor Championships.

No. 5 Oklahoma State 4, No. 8 California 2
Feb. 12, 2017 | Tennis and Fitness Center of Rocky Hill | Rocky Hill, Conn.

Doubles | Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
No. 1: No. 49 Jansen/Manasse (CAL) def. No. 5 Babic/Tur Mari (OSU) 6-3
No. 2: Blanco/Bolsova (OSU) def. No. 20 Hauger/Popovic (CAL) 6-0
No. 3: Nelson/Starr (CAL) def. Lushkova/Adamovic (OSU), 6-3

Singles | Order of Finish: 5, 6, 4, 3, 1
No. 1: No. 10 Viktoriya Lushkova (OSU) def. No. 36 Maegan Manasse (CAL), 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(1)
No. 2: No. 20 Karla Popovic (CAL) vs. No. 56 Katarina Adamovic (OSU), 6-4, 3-6, 5-2, unf.
No. 3: No. 33 Vladica Babic (OSU) def. Denise Starr (CAL), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 4: Aliona Bolsova (OSU) def. Olivia Hauger (CAL), 6-2, 7-5
No. 5: Maya Jansen (CAL) def. No. 77 Sofia Blanco (OSU), 6-2, 6-2
No. 6: No. 86 Lena Ruppert (OSU) def. Maria Smith (CAL), 6-2, 6-3

Cardinal from a Distance
Stanford captured its 19th national championship (18 NCAA) in 2016, defeating No. 12 Oklahoma State in a 4-3 thriller. At No. 15, Stanford became the lowest-seeded team to win an NCAA title, knocking off No. 2 Florida, No. 10 Michigan and No. 6 Vanderbilt in a span of five days prior to reaching the final.

The Cardinal returns seniors Taylor Davidson and Caroline Doyle from the 2016 title squad, along with some impressive young talent in Caroline Lampl and Melissa Lord. Head coach Lele Forood will be tasked, however, with replacing three-time All-America Carol Zhao and Krista Hardebeck.

Stanford has opened the season with three-straight sweeps, defeating Saint Mary's, Sacramento State and San Jose State in a trio of home duals.

Breaking Down the Gators
The top-ranked Gators are coming off the program's seventh ITA National Team Indoor Championship title last weekend. Florida defeated Michigan, Texas Tech, Georgia and finally No. 2 North Carolina, 4-2, in the finals to claim the Gators' first indoor championship since 1999.
The Gators boast six singles players in the top 45 of the ITA singles rankings, including Josie Kuhlman (No. 19) and Anna Danilina (No. 23) inside the top 25. Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock lead Florida in doubles, coming in at No.17.

Head coach Roland Thornqvist enters his 14th year at the helm of the Gator program, racking up a 356-44 overall record.

Home Court Advantage
Since it opened for the 2013-14 season, the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center has proven a tough place to play for Cowgirl opponents. After an undefeated 18-0 mark at home last year, OSU has racked up a 42-2 overall record in the facility over the last three seasons. A look at the numbers:

Season                 OSU Record at GTC
2013-14                6-1
2014-15                13-1
2015-16                18-0
2016-17                5-0
Total                     42-2

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 239 singles wins, 245 doubles wins, three All-America honors and 10 All-Big 12 accolades while helping the Cowgirls to a 76-21 dual record.

Starting on a High Note
The Cowgirls have wasted no time asserting their dominance in 2017, as the team opened the campaign with five consecutive shutouts for the first time in program history.

The team has combined for a 36-6 (.857) mark in dual play to begin the season. OSU has been impressive in doubles as well, going 17-3 (.850).

With its 4-0 win over Ole Miss at the ITA National Indoor Championships, OSU recorded its first 7-0 start since the 1988-89 campaign.

Record Watch
• Viktoriya Lushkova's .810 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 88 career singles wins, Viktoriya Lushkova is currently third on the Big 12 era career list, and only six wins away from sealing the No. 1 spot. She is fifth on the doubles Big 12 era list with 80 career wins.
• With 80 career doubles wins, Katarina Adamovic sits in fifth on the program Big 12 era career doubles wins list. With a .798 win percentage in doubles, Adamovic's doubles win percentage leads the Big 12 era list in that category as well, along with Vladica Babic.
• With 85 career doubles wins, Carla Tur Mari is currently the program's active leader in that category, while also sitting in fourth in the Big 12 era program record book. She is also fourth in singles with 85 career wins.

Cowgirls in the ITA Rankings
For the fourth-straight week, the Oklahoma State women's tennis team remained at No. 6 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings released last week. With this week's rankings, the Cowgirls have been represented in the ITA top 25 for 46 consecutive weeks.

Viktoriya Lushkova (No. 10), Vladica Babic (No. 33), Carla Tur Mari (No. 42), Katarina Adamovic (No. 56), Sofia Blanco (No. 77) and Lena Rupper (No. 86) represent the Cowgirls the latest singles rankings released last week. Babic is ranked with Tur Mari at No. 5 in doubles, and with Adamovic at No. 21.

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.

Impressively, the Cowgirl underclassmen (Bolsova, Ruppert, and sophomores Sofia Blanco and Katarina Stresnakova) have combined for a 58-16 record (.784 win pct.) so far this season.

Viki the Clincher
Senior Viktoriya has been a force early on in the Cowgirls' 2017 campaign, going 5-1 in the No. 1 singles spot.

Lushkova has clinched four of OSU's last five wins, including a three-set thriller over Cal standout Maegan Manasse to lock up the Cowgirls' 4-2 win over No. 8 California at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

The Cowgirl senior also clinched OSU wins over Ole Miss, Tulsa and Cornell.

Light it Up, Lena
Freshman Lena Ruppert impressed in her first few dual weekends as a Cowgirl, winning six of her first seven matches.

A deeper look into the numbers, however, shows an even more remarkable start for the German newcomer. In her opening four dual matches, Ruppert played a full 46 games before dropping one.

Ruppert figures to be a contributor in the Cowgirl lineup throughout the remainder of her freshman season, having posted a 15-3 overall singles record so far with a 6-1 mark in duals.

Dominating the Big 12
The Cowgirls have arisen as a force in the Big 12 Conference over the last several seasons. Since 2013, OSU has won 28 conference matches, which ranks second only to Baylor's 31.

The Cowgirls have made three of the last four Big 12 Championship matches, finally breaking through to win their first since 2003 last year with a 4-0 win over Texas Tech.

OSU has won 14-straight regular season conference matches, dating back to March of 2015. That mark ranks third among Power Five schools, behind North Carolina and Florida. A look:

School                                  Consecutive Conf. Wins
North Carolina (ACC)          28
Florida (SEC)                       15
Oklahoma State (Big 12)   14
Miami (ACC)                        13
Ohio State (Big Ten)            12

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Cowgirls Set to Face College Tennis Blue Bloods in Florida

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Players Mentioned

Katarina Adamovic

Vladica Babic

Sofia Blanco

Aliona Bolsova

Viktoriya Lushkova

Lena Ruppert

Katarina Stresnakova

Carla Tur Mari

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