Second-Seeded Cowgirls Head to Kansas for Big 12 Championship

Tournament Notes

STILLWATER – For the third consecutive season, Oklahoma State Cowgirl tennis enters the Big 12 Tennis Championship this weekend as the No. 2 seed, looking to capture its first conference tournament title since 2016.

The Cowgirls' quarterfinals match is set for Friday morning against the winner of West Virginia and Kansas State. See details and match notes below.

First Round Details
No. 12 Oklahoma State (18-6; 8-1 Big 12)
vs.
West Virginia (10-11; 0-9 Big 12)
-or-
Kansas State (12-10; 2-7 Big 12)
Date/Time: April 19, 2019/9 a.m.
Location: Jayhawk Tennis Center
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/kansas/tennis/xlive.htm
Live Stream:http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=211799845

Notable Streaks and Trends
- The Cowgirls have spent 88 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 four seasons.
- Since 2012, OSU has made seven-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 not lost more than two Big 12 matches in a season since 2013.

At the Big 12 Tournament
- The Cowgirls are 27-20 overall at the Big 12 Championship with two first-place tournament finishes.
- OSU is 8-4 all-time in the first round, 11-7 in the quarterfinals, 6-5 in the semifinals and 2-4 in the championship match.
- The Pokes are 7-4 all-time as a No. 2 seed at the tournament.
- The program boasts one tournament MVP, Viktoriya Lushkova, in 2016.
- The Cowgirls have placed six players and four doubles tandems on the Big 12 All-Tournament team over the last three seasons.

Eyeing the Field
- Five Big 12 teams are among the top 50 women's programs as ranked by the ITA this week. Aside from the No. 11 Cowgirls, are Texas (7), Kansas (20), Texas Tech (26) and Oklahoma (29).
- The conference boasts four top-30 players. Texas Tech's Felicity Maltby is the highest ranked at No. 18 followed by No. 22 Anastasia Rychagova (KU), OSU's Stresnakova (No. 26) and 29th-ranked Bianca Turati (UT).
- Only two pairs fall inside the top 25 Oracle/ITA doubles rankings this week. Kansas' Janet Koch and Nina Khmelnitckaia check in at No. 3 and Cowgirls Sofia Blanco and Catherine Gulihur are ranked No. 21 in the country.

Dominating the Big 12
- The Cowgirls have arisen as a force in the Big 12 Conference over the last several seasons. Since 2014, OSU has won 46 conference matches and went 8-1 in conference play this season.
- Overall, OSU has lost only five conference matches in the past three seasons. The last time the Cowgirls lost more than two conference matches in a season was 2013, before the Greenwood Tennis Center opened.
- The Cowgirls have made four of the last six Big 12 Championship matches, finally breaking through in 2016 to win their first since 2003 with a 4-0 win over Texas Tech.

Second-Seeded Cowgirls Head to Kansas for Big 12 Championship

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Players Mentioned

Sofia Blanco

Catherine Gulihur

Viktoriya Lushkova

Oklahoma State University Athletics