Cowgirls Host Wildcats, Jayhawks to Open Final Homestand

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STILLWATER – The ninth-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team returns home to the Greenwood Tennis Center this weekend to open a three-match homestand as it hosts Big 12 opponents Kansas State and No. 23 Kansas. The Cowgirls (15-4, 3-1 Big 12) serve up the weekend Friday at 5:30 p.m. with the Wildcats before a top-25 matchup with the Jayhawks Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission to both matches is free.

Watch and Follow the Matches
Fans can catch all home matches online at okstate.com/watchtennis. Live scoring is available on okstate.statbroadcast.com.

About the Cowgirls
Oklahoma State enters this weekend's conference bouts at 15-4 overall with a 3-1 mark in Big 12 action. The Cowgirls return 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, racking up a team-leading 93 wins during her time in Stillwater. 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.

Oklahoma State newcomers Sofia Blanco, Aliona Bolsova and Lena Ruppert have been key pieces to the Cowgirls' strong start as well, going a combined 56-17 overall in singles.

The Cowgirls boasted one of the most impressive doubles records in the country in 2016, winning all but one doubles point in 34 matches. That trend has continued this season, as OSU has taken 16 of 19 possible doubles points on the year.

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 and volunteer assistant coach Jaime Jaime Sánchez-Cañamares Rios.

Notable Streaks and Trends
?The Cowgirls have spent 53 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.
?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 29-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 eight sweeps in its first 19 matches.

Last Time Out
The seventh-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team rebounded from last Friday's tough loss to No. 6 Texas Tech with a 4-2 victory at No. 33 TCU on Sunday afternoon. The win marked the sixth-straight win for the Cowgirls over the Horned Frogs and the second this season.

No. 7 Oklahoma State 4, No. 33 TCU 2
April 2, 2017 | Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center | Fort Worth, Texas

Doubles | Order of finish: 2, 3
No. 1: No. 5 Babic/Tur Mari (OSU) vs. Bashota/Wegner (TCU) 5-2
No. 2: No. 23 Bolsova/Blanco (OSU) def. Arantekin/Zenovka (TCU) 6-3
No. 3: No. 44 Lushkova/Adamovic (OSU) def. Pereira/Kadzhaya (TCU) 6-2

Singles | Order of finish: 5, 3, 2, 4, 1
No. 1: No. 10 Viktoriya Lushkova (OSU) def. No. 81 Seda Arantekin (TCU) 7-6, 3-6, 6-2
No. 2: No. 66 Katarina Adamovic (OSU) def.    Aleksandra Zenovka (TCU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3: Sofiko Kadzhaya (TCU) def. No. 42 Aliona Bolsova (OSU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 4: Donika Bashota (TCU) def. No. 73 Vladica Babic (OSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
No. 5: Lena Ruppert (OSU) def. Carolina Wegner (TCU) 6-1, 6-0
No. 6: Katarina Stresnakova (OSU) vs. Marie Norris (TCU) 6-0, 3-6, 5-0.

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 32 conference matches, which ranks third only to Texas Tech and Baylor's 33.

Overall, OSU has lost only one conference match in the last two years and five since 2015. The last time the Cowgirls lost more than two conference matches in a season was 2013, before the Greenwood Tennis Center was opened.

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.

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.

The Cowgirls have won 29-straight matches at the new facility, which after Florida's nation-leading streak was snapped by Georgia earlier this month, stands as the second-longest streak in the nation behind South Alabama's 38.

After an undefeated 18-0 mark at home last year and a 7-0 home start this season, OSU has racked up a 44-2 overall record in the facility over the last four 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                7-0
Total                      44-2

No Trouble in Doubles
Over the last two seasons, Oklahoma State has made a name for itself around the country for its strong doubles play. This year, the Cowgirls have won 16 of 19 doubles points. Over the last two seasons total, OSU has taken 49 of 53 doubles points.

Series Notes: Kansas State
?This Friday's match between the Cowgirls and Wildcats will be the 47th match in the series between the two programs, with OSU taking 40 of the previous meetings.
?The Cowgirls have won seven consecutive matches over the Wildcats and nine of the last 10.
?OSU has only dropped one match to the Wildcats in Stillwater, coming in 2011 which was also the last Cowgirl loss to Kansas State.
?The Cowgirls have tallied four-straight sweeps over the Wildcats.
?Head coach Chris Young is 8-1 in his OSU career against Kansas State.

Series Notes: Kansas
?This Sunday will mark the 49th meeting between the Cowgirls and the Jayhawks. OSU is 32-16 in previous contests.
?OSU has won nine-straight matches over the Jayhawks, including five-straight sweeps.
?The Cowgirls are 9-6 all-time against the Jayhawks in Stillwater.
?Head coach Chris Young is a perfect 9-0 over Kansas since arriving in Stillwater.

Kansas State from a Distance
Kansas State enters this Friday's match at 11-9 overall with a 2-2 mark in Big 12 play.The Wildcats are coming off a 4-1 loss to Wichita State that followed three consecutive victories over UT Arlington, Iowa State and West Virginia.

Livia Cimu leads the Wildcats with a 13-3 singles record this season, splitting time at the five and six spots. Carolina Costamagna figures to get the start at No. 1 singles, starting all 20 matches in the top spot. In doubles, Ana Garcia Navas and Mille Stretton lead Kansas State with a 9-8 record, splitting time at the No. 1 spot this spring with Costamagna and Ines Mesquita.

The Wildcats are led by third-year head coach Danielle Steinberg.

Eyeing the Jayhawks
Ranked No. 23 in this week's ITA team rankings, the Kansas Jayhawks come into Stillwater with an 11-4 overall record and a 3-1 mark in conference matches. Kansas has won four-straight matches, including a pair of sweeps against West Virginia and Iowa State last weekend.

Anastasia Rychagova leads the Jayhawks in singles, coming in at No. 81 in the ITA singles rankings with a 7-2 mark in the No. 1 spot. Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum and Nina Khmelnitckaia have racked up an 18-7 overall record in doubles, which is good for a No. 35 national ranking.

Kansas is led by fourth-year head coach Todd Chapman.

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 93 career singles wins, Viktoriya Lushkova is currently second on the Big 12 era career list, and only one win away from sealing the No. 1 spot. She is sixth on the doubles Big 12 era list with 86 career wins.
?With 87 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 90 career doubles wins, Carla Tur Mari is currently the program's active leader in that category, while also sitting in third in the Big 12 era program record book. She is also fourth in singles with 88 career wins.

Cowgirls in the ITA Rankings
The Oklahoma State women's tennis team came in at No. 9 in this week's national team rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Tuesday. Senior Viktoriya Lushkova ascended three spots in the singles poll to No. 7, earning the highest singles ranking in program history.

Lushkova picked up a couple of wins on the weekend, including a straight-set victory over Texas Tech's 17th-ranked Gabriela Talaba that set up the Cowgirl senior for her rise in the rankings. Ranked No. 7, Lushkova bested the previous program-high mark of No. 10, which was held multiple times by herself and teammate Katarina Adamovic.

Aside from Lushkova, four other Cowgirls represent OSU in the singles rankings, while four doubles teams remain ranked this week.

Freshman Aliona Bolsova comes in at No. 49 in singles this week, while senior Katarina Adamovic jumped 14 spots to No. 52. Junior Vladica Babic rose six spots to No. 67, and senior Carla Tur Mari rounds out the list of ranked Cowgirls in singles at No. 84.

Babic and Tur Mari lead the Cowgirls in doubles at No. 9, while Babic also appears with Adamovic at No. 25. Bolsova and sophomore Sofia Blanco come in at No. 34 this week, while Lushkova and Adamovic are slotted at No. 52.

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 250 singles wins, 263 doubles wins, three All-America honors and 10 All-Big 12 accolades while helping the Cowgirls to an 83-24 dual record.

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 74-22 record (.783 win pct.) so far this season.

Lushkova Named Big 12 Player of the Week for the Second Time
Oklahoma State senior Viktoriya Lushkova has been named the Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week, the league announced on Tuesday. It marks Lushkova's second Big 12 weekly honor of the season.

Leading the Cowgirls to a Big 12 split, Lushkova picked up a pair of ranked singles wins and a doubles win this weekend in road matches against No. 6 Texas Tech and No. 33 TCU.

After the Cowgirls dropped the doubles point to the Red Raiders, Lushkova wasted no time pulling the Cowgirls back into the match, posting one of the best performances of her senior season in a dominant, 6-1, 6-3 triumph over No. 17 Gabriela Talaba to tie the team score at one-all.

She posted another outstanding performance on Sunday in the Cowgirls' win over No. 33 TCU, clinching both the doubles point and the match for OSU with a pair of impressive victories. Paired with teammate Katarina Adamovic, Lushkova defeated Alexis Pereira and Sofiko Kadzhaya, 6-2, for the tandem's fifth doubles clincher of the season.

In singles, for the seventh time this season, Lushkova secured the victory for the Cowgirls on court one. The Cowgirl senior gutted out a three-set tally over No. 81 Seda Arantekin, taking the first set in a tiebreaker and rebounding from a tough second-set loss to take the third, 6-2. It marked the senior's 93rd win, putting her just one away from tying Linda Faltynkova as the winningest Cowgirl in the Big 12 era.

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Players Mentioned

Katarina Adamovic

Vladica Babic

Sofia Blanco

Aliona Bolsova

Viktoriya Lushkova

Lena Ruppert

Katarina Stresnakova

Carla Tur Mari

Oklahoma State University Athletics