Cowgirls Open Dual Season with Three Home Non-Conference Tests

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STILLWATER – The 16th-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team opens the 2018 dual schedule this weekend as it hosts a trio of opponents at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

The Cowgirls will have a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. with Abilene Christian, which will be followed by a 6 p.m. matchup with Oral Roberts. The team will have another test on Monday at 5:30 when Wyoming travels to Stillwater to close out the weekend.

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
The Cowgirls enter the 2017-18 season coming off another historic season in which they advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second-straight year and won their second consecutive Big 12 regular season title.

OSU returns three players from the 2017 campaign in senior Vladica Babic and juniors Sofia Blanco and Katarina Stresnakova. Tasked with replacing one of the most talented senior classes in school history, head coach Chris Young has enlisted the help of East Tennessee State transfer Marina Guinart, who won 10
matches over the course of the fall tournament schedule. Young also brings on senior Megan McCray, who played for OSU her freshman season in 2014, as well as Israeli freshman Shir Hornung.

Including visits from the returning national champion Florida Gators and perennial top-25 program Miami, the Cowgirls will play a home-heavy schedule in 2018 with 15 of their 21 scheduled regular season matches set to be played at the Greenwood Tennis Center. The home schedule is a welcome sight for Young, whose Cowgirls have won 49 of 51 all-time matches at the state-of-the-art facility and 34 straight.

In the offseason, Young also hired on former North Carolina standout Hayley Carter to the Cowgirl staff as an assistant coach. The most decorated player in North Carolina women's tennis history, Carter comes to Stillwater just months after wrapping up a wildly successful collegiate career in which she racked up an ACC record 168 singles victories to go along with four first-team All-ACC selections, two ACC Championship Most Valuable Player selections, and seven All-America honors—four in singles and three in doubles.

Notable Streaks and Trends
?The Cowgirls have spent 61 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 three seasons.
?Since 2012, OSU has made six-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 34-straight matches at the Greenwood Tennis Center, dating back to March of 2015.
?OSU has had an ITA Central Region Champion in five-straight seasons. This fall, Vladica Babic swept the event, winning in singles and in doubles with teammate Sofia Blanco.
?The Cowgirls were impressive during the fall, racking up a 39-16 (.709 win pct.) overall mark in singles and a 17-9 (.654) record in doubles.

OSU in Season Openers
Under head coach Chris Young, OSU is 6-2 in season openers, winning three straight. Of those six wins, three have come in sweeps. The Cowgirls are 30-10 all time in season openers and 1-0 against Abilene Christian in the first match of the season (2016).

The Series: Abilene Christian
?Saturday's match with Abilene Christian will be the seventh meeting between the two programs.
?OSU has taken each of the previous six contests in the series.
?The Cowboys are 4-0 over the Wildcats in Stillwater and 1-0 in season openers.
?OSU took the last meeting between the two teams, 6-1, in Stillwater.

The Series: Oral Roberts
?The Pokes will be facing the Golden Eagles for the 20th time in the two programs' histories on Saturday. The series dates back to 1979.
?The Cowgirls have dominated the series, going 16-3 in the previous 19 bouts.
?Saturday will mark the 10th time Oral Roberts has visited
Stillwater, with OSU going 8-1 over the last nine meetings.
?The Cowgirls took the last meeting, 7-0, at the Greenwood
Tennis Center last season.

The Series: Wyoming
?Saturday's matchup with Wyoming will be only the second time the two teams have met.
?OSU took the only other meeting, 7-0, in Stillwater in 2017.

Cowgirls in the ITA Rankings
The Oklahoma State women's tennis team came in at No. 16 in this week's national team rankings, released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Vladica Babic led the Cowgirls in the singles poll this week, slotted at No. 21, her highest career ranking.

Aside from Babic, junior Marina Guinart also reached her career high ranking at No. 63.

In doubles, Babic and Sofia Blanco open the season with the No. 20 ranking.

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 34-straight matches at the new facility, which stands as the second-longest streak in the nation behind South Alabama's 42 and the longest in Power Five women's tennis.

After going undefeated the last two seasons with an 18-0 mark in 2016 and a 12-0 record last season, OSU has racked up a 49-2 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                 12-0
Total                      49-2

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. Last year, the Cowgirls have won 24 of 30 doubles points. Over the last two seasons total, OSU has taken 57 of 64 doubles points.

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 37 conference matches, which is tied with Baylor for the most in that span.

Overall, OSU has lost only one conference match in the last two years. 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 four of the last five Big 12 Championship matches, finally breaking through to win their first since 2003 last year with a 4-0 win over Texas Tech.

Among the Elite
OSU is one of only eight teams in the country to have won 20 matches in each of the last three seasons. In that span, the Cowgirls have won 77 matches. That total ranks third among Division I programs, behind only North Carolina and Ohio State.

                School                   Wins
1.             North Carolina     94
2.             Ohio State             83
3.             Oklahoma State   77
4.             Florida                   76
5.             Texas Tech           73
6.             Michigan               72
                Vanderbilt             72
8.             Wichita State        69
9.             Baylor                    68
10.          Pepperdine           66
*As of matches played on Jan. 15

Fresh Faces
Head coach Chris Young announced the arrival of two new Cowgirls to the OSU women's tennis roster on Wednesday. Senior Megan McCray and freshman Shir Hornung will join the Pokes beginning with the 2018 spring season.

Oklahoma State fans will remember Megan McCray from her freshman season with the Cowgirls in 2014. The Oceanside, Calif., native went 23-13 in singles competing primarily in the No. 2 spot for the Pokes that season, helping guide OSU to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. An All-Big 12 selection, McCray became the 10th Cowglrl freshman to reach the 20-win mark in the Big 12 era.

Shir Hornung comes to Stillwater from Tel Aviv, Israel and will open the 2018 spring season as a freshman. She is currently ranked No. 9 overall by Universal Tennis.

Dominance Central
Over the last several seasons, Oklahoma State has started a trend of dominance at the ITA Central Region Championships. This year was no different, as the team swept the event with Vladica Babic taking the singles title and teaming up with Sofia Blanco to take the crown in doubles as well.

Since 2013, between singles and doubles, the Cowgirls have had eight winners at the regional tournament with many more singles players and doubles teams advancing deep into each draw. All of this coming despite the program not having won a title at the event in years prior.

The Cowgirls have swept the event three times (2014, 2015 and 2017). Babic and Viktoriya Lushkova (2014) are the only players in school history to take both singles and doubles titles in the same year.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Cowgirls Open Dual Season with Three Home Non-Conference Tests

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