Cowgirls Sweep Kansas State to Extend Home Win Streak

Friday, April 7

Stillwater, OK

5:30 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Kansas State

Photo by: Bruce Waterfield

April 07, 2017 | Cowgirl Tennis

STILLWATER – The ninth-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team turned in its ninth sweep of the season Friday night at the Greenwood Tennis Center, handling Big 12 foe Kansas State, 4-0, to extend the nation's second-longest home win streak to 30 matches.

"I feel really good about this team and where we are," head coach Chris Young said. "Actually, I think we're in the best place that we've been all season as a team, and I think that showed tonight. We came out and were really aggressive in doubles, and then in singles, the girls came out and did what they needed to do."

The Cowgirls (16-4, 4-1 Big 12) came out strong, picking up a pair of convincing wins in doubles before carrying that momentum over to singles, where they used straight-set wins from underclassmen Lena Ruppert and Katarina Stresnakova to set up junior Vladica Babic for the match-clinching victory.

"Katie (Stresnakova) and Lena (Ruppert) are playing as well as anyone right now, and that showed today. I really liked that (Vladica Babic) got back on track today and had a really good performance. She played like she's been practicing this week, so I'm very excited about those girls."

In doubles, Katarina Adamovic and Viktoriya Lushkova wasted no time getting the Cowgirls' first win of the day on the board. The seniors shut out Kansas State's Iva Bago and Livia Cirnu, 6-0, on court three to move to 13-3 overall on the season. Babic and Carla Tur Mari got back on track after a tough loss last weekend with a 6-1 win over Ana Garcia Navas and Millie Stretton to secure the point and give the Cowgirls a 1-0 lead.

Despite a last-minute lineup change at the No. 3 spot, Oklahoma State opened singles by taking five first sets from the Wildcats before quickly finishing off the match with three straight-set wins just over an hour and a half after the first serve of doubles.

Ruppert added the first singles point for the Cowgirls, recording her fourth shutout of the dual season in a 6-0, 6-0 triumph over Kansas State's Ana Garcia Navas. It marked her 20th win of the year and fifth straight.

"I think I played pretty well," Ruppert said. "I felt confident on the court. Last week, I didn't play well. I wasn't confident at all, but I came back this week and had a really good week of practice."

Shortly after Ruppert's win, Katarina Stresnakova piled on with a 6-2, 6-0 tally over Maria Panaite to remain perfect on the spring season. Stresnakova moved to 19-5 overall with an unblemished 9-0 dual mark. The sophomore has won 14-straight regular season dual matches, with her last loss coming on Feb. 26 of last season.

With her third match-clinching win of the year, Vladica Babic broke a two-match slump Friday night as she dropped Ines Mesquita, 6-1, 6-3, to earn her 15th triumph of the season and push the Cowgirls to their second-straight victory.

The Cowgirls will return to the Greenwood Tennis Center Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. to host No. 23 Kansas. Admission to all home matches is free.

No. 9 Oklahoma State 4, Kansas State 0
April 7, 2017 | Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center | Stillwater, Okla.

Doubles | Order of finish: 3, 1
No. 1: No. 9 Babic/Tur Mari (OSU) def. Garcia Navas/Stretton (KSU) 6-1
No. 2: No. 34 Blanco/Bolsova (OSU) vs. Costamagna/Mesquita (KSU) 5-3, unf.
No. 3: No. 52 Lushkova/Adamovic (OSU) def. Bago/Cirnu (KSU) 6-0

Singles | Order of finish: 4, 5, 3
No. 1: No. 7 Viktoriya Lushkova (OSU) vs. Carolina Costamagna (KSU) 6-4, 3-1, unf.
No. 2: No. 52 Katarina Adamovic (OSU) vs. Millie Stretton (KSU) 7-5, 2-0, unf.
No. 3: No. 49 Vladica Babic (OSU) def. Ines Mesquita (KSU) 6-1, 6-3
No. 4: No. 67 Lena Ruppert (OSU) def. Ana Garcia Navas (KSU) 6-0, 6-0
No. 5: Katarina Stresnakova (OSU) def. Maria Panaite (KSU) 6-2, 6-0
No. 6: No. 84 Carla Tur Mari (OSU) vs. Livia Cirnu (KSU) 3-6, 4-2, unf.