Cowgirl Tennis Set to Open NCAA Tournament in Norman

Match Notes (PDF)

The Basics
No. 20 Oklahoma State will make its 13th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament this weekend in the Normal Regional. The Cowgirls will open against No. 40 Tulsa on Friday at 11 a.m., with No. 4 Oklahoma and Denver to follow at 2 p.m. The winners of Friday's matches will compete on Saturday at 2 p.m. with a Sweet 16 berth on the line. OSU will be looking to advance past the opening round for the 11th time in its last 12 tournaments, and it could reach the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in its last nine tournaments with two wins this weekend. Oklahoma State enters the big dance at 19-7 with wins in 12 of its last 13 matches. It earned a share of the Big 12 regular season title for the second consecutive season and reached the semifinals of the Big 12 Championships for the 10th time in the last 11 conference tournaments.

Following the Action
All matches from the Norman Regional will be available to watch via Cracked Racquets CrossCourt Cast on YouTube. Additionally, streaming of the matches can be viewed at the following link: https://web.playsight.com/facility/the-university-of-oklahoma/home. Additionally, live scoring of Friday's match against Tulsa will be available here: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=589513. Should the Cowgirls advance, live scoring for Saturday's Round of 32 match will be made available on okstate.com.

In the Rankings
Oklahoma State enters the NCAA Tournament at No. 20 in the ITA rankings after a semifinal run at the Big 12 Championships. OSU is one of 11 Big 12 teams to be recognized, joining Texas Tech (13), UCF (19), Baylor (22), Arizona (30), Kansas (37), Arizona State (38), TCU (49), BYU (62), Iowa State (64) and Kansas State (67). In the individual rankings, Anastasiya Komar and Rose Marie Nijkamp entered the top five at No. 5 in the doubles poll. In singles, Gracie Epps came in at No. 80, while Komar appeared at No. 83, Rose Marie Nijkamp moved up to No. 116 and Marcela Lopez checked in at No. 123.

The Matchup
The Cowgirls are 22-15 all-time against Tulsa with wins in nine of the last 10 matches. The programs have met twice in the NCAA Tournament, with OSU winning 4-0 in the second round in 2016 on its way to a national runner-up finish, before Tulsa returned the favor in the second round in 2018, winning 4-1. Oklahoma State also leads the Bedlam series, 41-23, and snapped a four-match losing streak with a 4-1 win in Norman last season. If the teams were to meet on Saturday, it would be the first-ever NCAA Tournament match between the two programs. OSU and Denver have met four times with the Cowgirls having won all of them, including a 4-1 victory in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

The Tournament Rundown
Since head coach Chris Young took over in 2010, Oklahoma State has been to the NCAA Tournament in 13 of 15 seasons with six trips to the Sweet 16, two Elite 8 appearances and an NCAA runner-up finish in 2016. The Cowgirls have advanced past the first round in 10 of the last 11 tournaments, doing so with shutouts in eight of those seasons. OSU is one of seven Big 12 teams to appear in this year's tournament, joining Texas Tech, UCF, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor and Kansas. The first three rounds will be played on campus sites before the final eight teams advance to the final site in Waco, Texas, for the NCAA Championships.

Conference Recognition
Oklahoma State was well-represented in the Big 12's yearly awards that were announced by the conference on Wednesday. Rose Marie Nijkamp cleaned up, becoming the third player in program history to be named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year to go along with All-Big 12 First Team nods in singles and doubles and an All-Big 12 Freshman Team selection. Anastasiya Komar also earned All-Big 12 First Team honors in both singles and doubles, while Melisa Ercan joined Komar and Nijkamp on the first team. Gracie Epps received second team honors in singles, while Kylie Collins and Marcela Lopez were recognized on the All-Big 12 Second Team in doubles.

Notable Streaks and Trends
• 11 of OSU's 19 wins this season have been shutouts.
• Oklahoma State has won the doubles point in 20 of its 26 matches this season, including 12 of the last 13.
• Anastasiya Komar and Rose Marie Nijkamp are 20-2 in doubles this season with wins in 12 straight.
• Rose Marie Nijkamp has won 13 consecutive singles matches, with all but two coming in straight sets.
• Gracie Epps is 11-0 when playing on court five this season.
• Anastasiya Komar is 15-2 when playing on court two this season.
• Rose Marie Nijkamp is 13-1 when playing on court four this season.

Oklahoma State Wins Would...
• Advance it past the opening round of the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in the last 12 tournaments.
• Advance it to the Sweet 16 for the third time in the last four and seventh time in the last nine tournaments.
• Improve its all-time record in the NCAA Tournament to 26-25.
• Improve its record in the NCAA Tournament under Chris Young to 22-12.
• Improve it to 21-7 on the season.
• Improve it to 23-15 all-time against Tulsa.
• Improve it to 3-3 on neutral courts this season.
• Give it wins on 14 of its last 15 matches.

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Players Mentioned

Kylie Collins

Gracie Epps

Melisa Ercan

Anastasiya Komar

Marcela Lopez

Rose Marie Nijkamp

Oklahoma State University Athletics