Cowgirls Clinch Big 12 Title in Shutout of Iowa State

Sunday, April 23

Ames, IA

10 a.m.

Oklahoma State University

Iowa State

April 23, 2017 | Cowgirl Tennis

AMES, Iowa – For the second-straight season, the Oklahoma State women's tennis team will take home the Big 12 regular season crown. The ninth-ranked Cowgirls tallied their fifth consecutive sweep Sunday morning in a 4-0 shutout over Iowa State to clinch a share of the conference title. The championship marks OSU's fourth in the Big 12 era.

"I am so proud of these girls for accomplishing one of our goals for the season," head coach Chris Young said. "This is a reward for their hard work and dedication, and will be inspiration as we move into the postseason. Today we played flawless tennis with great energy, and what is exciting for me as a coach is that we are only getting better at the right time."

With the win, the Cowgirls (20-4, 8-1 Big 12) also stretched their streak of 20-win seasons to three and pushed their perfect all-time record over the Cyclones to 42-0. Individually, senior Viktoriya Lushkova notched her 94th career singles win to tie herself as the winningest Cowgirl since the inception of the Big 12.

Oklahoma State overwhelmed the Cyclones from wire to wire, dominating doubles before carrying that momentum over to singles to quickly finish off the match in an hour and 19 minutes.

The Cowgirls used wins on the back two doubles courts to put away the Cyclones in a hurry. The senior tandem of Viktoriya Lushkova and Katarina Adamovic struck first, tallying a 6-0 shutout over Iowa State's Natalie Phippen and Liera Bender on court three for their fifth-straight win. Freshman Aliona Bolsova and sophomore Sofia Blanco followed up the seniors' triumph with one of their own shortly after, dropping Regina Espindola and Erin Freeman, 6-1, on court two for their 24th win of the season.

In singles, OSU continued its dominant play, dropping only eight combined games on all six courts.

Coming off her match-clinching win over West Virginia on Friday, Bolsova was the first to get on the board Sunday. The freshman overpowered Iowa State's Regina Espindola, 6-1, 6-0, on court two to put the Cowgirls up, 2-0, and push her overall record on the season to 26-7.

Blanco also recorded her second win of the weekend Sunday, shutting out Liera Bender, 6-0, 6-0, on No. 6 to put the Cowgirls a point away from the sweep and their second-straight conference title.

Lushkova made OSU history in her match-clinching 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Iowa State's Samantha Budai. The Cowgirl senior moved her collegiate career record to 94-24 to tie Linda Faltynkova as the winningest OSU singles player in the Big 12 era and the 10th winningest all-time. Now 21-8 on the year, Lushkova has clinched a team-high eight matches for the Cowgirls this season, playing exclusively in the top singles spot.

The Cowgirls will look to defend their 2016 conference tournament title next weekend as they head south to Norman, Okla., to open postseason play the Big 12 Championships. Competing as the No. 2 seed, OSU will begin play at the tournament on Friday at the Headington Tennis Center. Information on opponent and start time will be available later in the week as the final seeds are set.

No. 9 Oklahoma State 4, Iowa State 0
April 23, 2017 | Forker Tennis Courts | Ames, Iowa

Doubles | Order of finish: 3, 1
1. Alvarez, Karen/Bonadonna, Annabella (ISU) vs. #10 Vladica Babic/Carla Tur Mari (OKST) 1-5, unf.
2. #39 Aliona Bolsova/Sofia Blanco (OKST) def. Espindola, Regina/Freeman, Erin (ISU) 6-1
3. #59 Viktoriya Lushkova/Katarina Adamovic (OKST) def. Phippen, Natalie/Bender, Liera (ISU) 6-0

Singles | Order of finish: 2, 6, 1
1. #7 Viktoriya Lushkova (OKST) def. Budai, Samantha (ISU) 6-0, 6-0
2. #65 Aliona Bolsova (OKST) def. Espindola, Regina (ISU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Freeman, Erin (ISU) vs. #68 Vladica Babic (OKST) 2-6, unfinished
4. Bonadonna, Annabella (ISU) vs. Lena Ruppert (OKST) 1-6, 3-0, unf.
5. Phippen, Natalie (ISU) vs. Katarina Stresnakova (OKST) 1-6, 0-4, unf.
6. Sofia Blanco (OKST) def. Bender, Liera (ISU) 6-0, 6-0