Cowgirl Tennis Upset in NCAA Regional Final

STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State women's tennis team was eliminated from team competition in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Greenwood Tennis Center, falling to No. 24 Tulsa in a 4-2 match in the regional final.

"Today just wasn't a good day for us," head coach Chris Young. "We didn't play well. We talked about game plan a lot during the match. We've played Tulsa so many times and they did a really good job of playing to the patterns they needed to, and I thought at times we got out of our comfort zone and did things we shouldn't have. That just comes down to coaching, so I need to do a better job.

"Our margin for error has been really small all season and these girls have accomplished a lot. When you get to this level, everyone is really good and I think you just have to execute at a high level. We didn't do that today."

Cowgirls Vladica Babic, Megan McCray and Sofia Blanco will have a chance to compete for All-America status and individual NCAA titles later this month in the NCAA Individual Championships, which are set for May 23-28 in Winston Salem, N.C.

As a team, the Pokes had an impressive campaign in which they overcame expectations, tallying the program's fourth-straight 20-win season and finishing second in a tough Big 12 that featured five top-25 teams. OSU also advanced in the NCAA Tournament for a sixth-straight year.

OSU ended the regular season ranked No. 8, and stretched their streak of weeks in the ITA top 25 to its current number of 74.

Tulsa took the doubles point with wins on courts one and three to take an early 1-0 lead over the Cowgirls. Katarina Stresnakova and Marina Guinart were able to pick up a win for OSU on court two, defeating Vera Ploner and Martina Okalova, 6-3.

The Golden Hurricane went up, 2-0, to open singles play, as Shura Poppe knocked off Cowgirl freshman Sami Court on six; however, OSU quickly tied the team score at two with wins from Stresnakova and Guinart on courts three and four, respectively.

Stresnakova overwhelmed Tulsa's Tamara Kupkova, 6-1, 6-2, on three to cut the deficit to 2-1. The junior wraps up her senior with a 28-7 overall record with a 17-3 dual mark to lead the team in win totals for both cateogries.

Guinart dispatched of Martha Matoula, 7-6(3), 6-1, to tally the 25^th win of her junior season. The Spanish native was 15-2 in dual action for the Cowgirls this year and will carry a four-match win streak into next year.

Despite a tough fight from the Cowgirls on the remaining courts, the Golden Hurricane was able to quell the OSU comeback and lock up the match with wins over Megan McCray and Sofia Blanco on two and five.

As the match was suspended, Vladica Babic led No. 80 Ksenia Laskutova, 3-2, in her third set.

No. 24 Tulsa 4, No. 8 Oklahoma State 2
May 12, 2018 | Greenwood Tennis Center | Stillwater, Okla.

Doubles | Order of finish: 3,2,1
No. 1: Ksenia Laskutova/Martha Matoula (TUL) def. #14 Vladica Babic/Sofia Blanco (OSU) 6-4
No. 2: Katarina Stresnakova/Marina Guinart def. Vera Ploner/Martina Okalova (TUL) 6-3
No. 3: Rouxanne Janse Van Rensburg/Tamara Kupkova (TUL) def. Shir Hornung/Megan McCray (OSU) 6-2

Singles | Order of finish: 6,3,4,5,2
No. 1: #20 Vladica Babic (OSU) vs. #80 Ksenia Laskutova (OSU) 4-6, 6-2, 3-2
No. 2: #112 Martina Okalova (TUL) def. #39 Megan McCray (OSU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-0
No. 3: Katarina Stresnakova (OSU) def. Tamara Kupkova (TUL) 6-1, 6-2
No. 4: #123 Marina Guinart (OSU) def. Martha Matoula (TUL) 7-6(3), 6-1
No. 5: Vera Ploner (TUL) def. Sofia Blanco (OSU) 6-4, 7-6(5)
No. 6: Shura Poppe (TUL) def. Sami Court (OSU) 6-0, 6-0

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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