Cowgirl Tennis Primed for Big 12 Championships

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STILLWATER – The seventh-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team takes aim its 15th conference title this weekend as it travels to Austin, Texas, for the Big 12 Championships. The Cowgirls (18-3, 7-2 Big 12) open the weekend on Friday at 3 p.m. against either Oklahoma or Iowa State.

Follow the Matches
Live scoring for all matches at the Big 12 Championships can be found at TexasSports.com.

Notable Streaks and Trends
- The Cowgirls have spent 73 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.

About the Cowgirls
The Cowgirls raised eyebrows around the country during their successful 2018 regular season campaign, racking up an 18-3 overall record and finishing second in a stacked Big 12 race despite only returning three letterwinners from their Elite Eight run a year ago.

Now ranked No. 7 in the nation, OSU recorded a number of historic wins over the course of the regular season, including the program's first victories over college tennis blue bloods Florida and UCLA. With additional resume wins over Miami, Kansas and Baylor, the Pokes have defeated five teams currently ranked inside the ITA top 25 and 10 in the top 50.

A key reason for the Cowgirls' success in 2018 has been the stability at the top four singles positions. Vladica Babic, Megan McCray, Katarina Stresnakova and Marina Guinart have combined for a 49-8 overall record this spring holding down the top of the lineup.

Head coach Chris Young is in his ninth year at Oklahoma State, and is assisted by former North Carolina star and first-year assistant coach Hayley Carter.

Dominating the Big 12
The Cowgirls have arisen as a force in the Big 12 Conference over the last several seasons, finishing in the top two if the conference each of the last five years. Since 2013, OSU has won 44 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.

Cowgirls at the Big 12 Championships
- The Cowgirls are 26-19 overall at the Big 12 Championships with two tournament wins.
- OSU is 8-4 all-time in the first round, 10-7 in the quarterfinals, 6-4 in the semifinals, and 2-4 in the championship match.
- The Cowgirls are 6-3 all-time as a No. 2 seed at the tournament.
- The program boasts one tournament MVP: Viktoriya Lushkova in 2016.
- The Cowgirls have put six players and three doubles teams on the Big 12 All-Tournament team over the last two seasons.

Eyeing the Field
- Seven Big 12 tennis squads appear in the latest team rankings released by the ITA last week. Aside from seventh-ranked Oklahoma State, also appearing in the top 25 are Texas (6), Texas Tech (14) and Kansas (18).
- The Big 12 has three singles players ranked in the top 25 of the ITA rankings, including Texas's Bianca Turati (No. 1), Kansas's Anastasia Rychagova (No. 8), OSU's Vladica Babic (No. 20) and Texas Tech's Gabriela Talaba.
- The Big 12 has three doubles teams ranked in the top 25: No. 13 Vladica Babic/Sofia Blanco (Oklahoma State), No. 14 Nina Khmelnitckaia/Anastasia Rychagova (Kansas) and No. 21 Sarah Dvorak/Sabrina Federici (Texas Tech)

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