Cowgirl Tennis Takes Aim at No. 16 Kansas, Kansas State

PDF Notes and Stats

STILLWATER – The 11th-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team finishes up its regular season schedule this weekend when it travels to take on No. 16 Kansas and No. 38 Kansas State.

The Cowgirls (16-3, 5-2 Big 12) will open the weekend on Friday at 5 p.m. against the Jayhawks and close it out Sunday at 11 a.m. against the Wildcats.

Watch and Follow the Matches
Live scoring and streaming for this Friday's match can be found on the women's tennis schedule page at kuathletics.com. Live scoring for Sunday's match can be found at kstate.statbroadcast.com.

Notable Streaks and Trends
?The Cowgirls have spent 72 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 47 of their last 49 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 Series: Kansas
?Friday's matchup with the Jayhawks will be the 51st meeting in the all-time series between the two programs.
?OSU holds the series lead, winning 34 of the previous 50 contests.
?The Cowgirls are 14-6 all-time against Kansas in Lawrence.
?The Cowgirls have won 11-straight matches over the Jayhawks, including a pair of 4-0 sweeps in the last two meetings last season.
?Head coach Chris Young is a perfect 11-0 against Kansas since taking over in Stillwater.

The Series: Kansas State
?The Cowgirls and Wildcats will be meeting for the 48th time in the two schools' histories.
?OSU holds a heavy advantage in the all-time series, winning 41 of the previous 47 matches.
?The Cowgirls are 19-2 against the Wildcats in Manhattan.
?The Cowgirls have won eight-straight matches over Kansas State, including five-straight sweeps.
?Chris Young is 9-1 against the Wildcats in his tenure at OSU.

Last Time Out
The Oklahoma State women's tennis team came up short to No. 13 Texas Tech Sunday afternoon at the Greenwood Tennis Center, falling 4-1. It marked only the second home loss for the Cowgirls since 2015.

The match also served as Senior Day for the team, who honored Cowgirl seniors Vladica Babic and Megan McCray.

No. 13 Texas Tech 4, No. 11 Oklahoma State 1
April 15, 2018 | Greenwood Tennis Center | Stillwater, Okla.

Doubles | Order of finish: 2,3
1. #10 Vladica Babic/Sofia Blanco (OKST) vs. #15 Sabrina Federici/Sarah Dvorak (TTU) 4-2, unfinished
2. #89 Gabriela Talaba/Felicity Maltby (TTU) def. Katarina Stresnakova/Marina Guinart (OKST) 6-0
3. Alex Valenstein/Lana Rush (TTU) def. Megan McCray/Sami Court (OKST) 6-1

Singles | Order of finish: 6,4,1,3
1. #23 Vladica Babic (OKST) def. #17 Gabriela Talaba (TTU) 6-3, 6-3
2. #34 Megan McCray (OKST) vs. #46 Felicity Maltby (TTU) 6-3, 1-6, 5-3, unfinished
3. Alex Valenstein (TTU) def. #102 Katarina Stresnakova (OKST) 6-3, 6-4
4. #96 Sabrina Federici (TTU) def. Marina Guinart (OKST) 6-2, 6-0
5. Sofia Blanco (OKST) vs. #112 Sarah Dvorak (TTU) 6-4, 4-4, unfinished
6. Katelyn Jackson (TTU) def. Saralyn Dyer (OKST) 6-0, 6-0

Money McCray
Senior Megan McCray has been outstanding for the Cowgirls in the second singles spot this season, winning 13 of her 14 matches. McCray has gone 4-0 against ranked opponents so far this season and 2-0 against players in the top 50. The Oceanside, Calif., native has clinched five wins for the Pokes so far this year, including key victories over Florida, Miami and TCU.

Babic's Record Watch
Senior Vladica Babic has rewritten much of the program record book during her four years in Stillwater. She has maintained that trend during her final year. A look at where she stands in a number of record categories:

?Her 106 career doubles wins are the most by a Cowgirl in the Big 12 era and third-most in school history.
?Her 93 career singles wins are the third-most by a Cowgirl in the Big 12 era
?She is only the seventh player in program history to record 100 doubles wins and 90 singles wins.
?She sits in the top five in the Big 12 era for career singles (.720, No. 4) and doubles (.759, No. 3) win percentage.
?Owns the third-most singles (57) and third-most doubles (70) career dual wins in the Big 12 era.

Junior Power
Cowgirl juniors Katarina Stresnakova, Marina Guinart and Sofia Blanco have held down the three, four and five spots this season, and have been outstanding, racking up a combined 30-8 dual mark.

Stresnakova has opened the 2018 dual season off hot, winning 13 of her first 15 matches--with 12 wins coming in straight sets. Additionally, she has won 28 of her last 32 dual matches dating back to January of last season.

Guinart is 11-2 in dual play and has gone 21-8 overall this season. The Spanish native has been clutch, going 3-0 this spring in matches decided by a third set or tiebreaker.

Blanco has gone 6-4 in dual action and has won four of her last six matches.

Home Court Advantage
Since it opened for the 2013-14 season, the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center has proven to be a tough place to play for Cowgirl opponents.

After going undefeated the last two seasons with an 18-0 mark in 2016 and a 12-0 record last season, to go along with an 13-2 mark at home so far in 2018, OSU has racked up a 62-4 overall record in the facility over the last five 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
2017-18                13-2
Total                     62-4

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 42 conference matches, which is the most in that span.

Overall, OSU has lost only three conference matches over the last three seasons. 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 in 2016 with a 4-0 win over Texas Tech.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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