Cowgirl Tennis Upsets Third-Ranked Florida

Wednesday, February 7

Stillwater, OK

5:30 PM

Oklahoma State University

Florida

Photo by: Bruce Waterfield

February 07, 2018 | Cowgirl Tennis

Photo Gallery

STILLWATER — The 18^th-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team knocked off No. 3 Florida on Wednesday, coming up on the high side of an epic, 4-3 match at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center. The win was the Cowgirls' first over the Gators in program history.

In a match that was decided by four third sets, the Cowgirls (6-1) were able to pick up three of those decisive frames on the way to the win in front of a standing-room-only home crowd. With their team facing a 3-1 deficit, Marina Guinart and Sofia Blanco followed up a straight-set triumph by Katarina Stresnakova to tie the match, thereby setting up senior Megan McCray for the decisive victory.

"It's big for our program," head coach Chris Young said. "They're the defending national champs, and we were fortunate to get them here at home. When you get a match like this, you need to step up and deliver. As a coach, you try and create these moments. We had a good crowd tonight and a lot of things in place.

"The way you continue to move forward as a program is you capitalize on these moments. It didn't look good there for a period of time. We were saying prayers and asking for a miracle, and we got Megan. I feel blessed to coach these girls because they work so hard. I think the reason people enjoy watching them play is how hard they compete."

Once again, the Cowgirls bounced back from a tough start in doubles, as OSU's No. 3 tandem of Sofia Blanco and Shir Hornung was the only duo to pick up a win.

Following a Katie Kubicz win over Hornung on court six to stretch the Florida lead to 2-0, Stresnakova was able to get the Cowgirls on the board with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 96 Victoria Emma on court three. The win pushed the junior to 17-4 overall on the season and 6-0 in dual matches.

"For me, this was amazing," Stresnakova said. "Since I came here, my goal was to beat Florida. Even though people may think our team (isn't as good as in previous years) our chemistry is amazing and this shows that we can accomplish great things this season."

The Gators struck again on court one, as seventh-ranked Anna Danilina overcame a 6-1 first-set win from Cowgirl Vladica Babic to post the 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 decision.

Matched up with Florida's Peggy Porter, Blanco stormed through her first set, shutting out the Gator, 6-0; however, Porter wouldn't go away quietly and forced a third set with a 6-3 win in the second. In a must-win situation, Blanco stepped up and was able to turn it back on in the final set for the 6-2 triumph.

For the third time in four matches, Cowgirl junior Marina Guinart came up in the clutch on court four to knock off McCartney Kessler and tie the match. After dropping her first set, 7-5, Guinart bounced back tremendously in the second with a 6-3 win to force a third set. The two traded blows for the first eight games of the final frame, but it was Guinart that pulled away late for the 6-4 set victory and the match.

"She's been one of the last ones on the court every match now, and I think that's given her a lot of confidence," Young said. "There are players that don't necessarily separate from their opponent, but they find a way, and Marina didn't have her legs as much as she wanted to in that first set. She found them in the second set and just willed herself to win that match."

With all but one match completed, all eyes turned to court two, where senior Megan McCray was facing a 5-1 deficit in her third set against No. 50 Josie Kuhlman. From that point, McCray won 14-straight points to quickly shave Kuhlman's advantage to 5-4 before holding serve to tie the match at five games apiece and winning the final two games to seal the victory for the Pokes.

"After Megan won that second set, they changed and their girl started lifting the ball a little more to get the ball out of Megan's strike zone, so you started to see her make some errors," Young said. "We just talked about adjusting to that and putting a little more pressure on (Kuhlman) to see what would happen. Megan is a special player and we're very lucky to have her here. It was fun to see her compete. She just started getting on a roll, and when Megan is on a roll, she's as good as anybody."

The Cowgirls will enjoy an off weekend before another pair of home matches next week, beginning with No. 17 Miami on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 10:30 a.m.

No. 18 Oklahoma State 4, No. 3 Florida 3
Feb. 7, 2018 | Greenwood Tennis Center | Stillwater, Okla.

Doubles | Order of finish: 3,1,2
1. Anna Danilina/Victoria Emma (UF) def. Vladica Babic/Megan McCray (OKST) 6-4
2. McCartney Kessler/Josie Kuhlman (UF) def. Katarina Stresnakova/Marina Guinart (OKST) 6-3
3. Sofia Blanco/Shir Hornung (OKST) def. Katie Kubicz/Peggy Porter (UF) 6-3

Singles | Order of finish: 6,3,1,5,4,2
1. #7 Anna Danilina (UF) def. #37 Vladica Babic (OKST) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. Megan McCray (OKST) def. #50 Josie Kuhlman (UF) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
3. #121 Katarina Stresnakova (OKST) def. #96 Victoria Emma (UF) 6-2, 6-4
4. #91 Marina Guinart (OKST) def. McCartney Kessler (UF) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
5. #122 Sofia Blanco (OKST) def. Peggy Porter (UF) 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
6. Katie Kubicz (UF) def. Shir Hornung (OKST) 6-0, 6-4