Oklahoma Pulls Off Shocker Against Second-Seeded Colorado

April 30, 1999

College Station, Texas - Never say never was the attitude the University of Oklahoma women's tennis team displayed as it played second-seeded Colorado in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference Tennis Championship in College Station, Texas. Trailing 4-2 after singles play, the Sooners fought back to clinch the biggest upset win of the tournament by sweeping the doubles portion and claiming a 5-4 victory over No. 30 Colorado (20-6) at the Texas A&M Varsity Tennis Courts. The Sooners' (13-10) win ended an eight-match winning streak for the Buffs and advanced Oklahoma to the semifinals on Saturday.

With the match tied at 4-4, sophomore Viviana Mracnova (Zvolen, Slovakia) and junior Kristin Guilford (Littleton, Colo.) clinched the victory for Oklahoma with an amazing 9-8 (9-7) comeback at No. 2 doubles over the Buffs' twin sisters Aggie and Anna Bek. OU's duo fought back from a 5-2 deficit to give Oklahoma its first victory of the season when trailing after singles play.

Fighting from a 3-0 deficit was OU's No. 3 doubles of Angela Stroup (Tulsa, Oklahoma) and Jennie Hamilton (Plano, Texas). The pair battled back to tie the match at 6-6 and held Nadine Kenzelmann and Emily Smith scoreless to claim an 8-6 win.

Leading the entire match at the top doubles spot and picking up Oklahoma's first doubles point were seniors Danielle Knipp (Topeka, Kan.) and Raluca Gheorghe (Bucharest, Romania). The duo upset the 50th-ranked doubles pair of Jessica Garrow and Sandra Fischer, 8-5, and ended the pairs' 11-match winning streak. In addition, Knipp and Gheorghe earned OU's only singles points. Knipp defeated Smith, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 3 and Gheorghe fought off Garrow, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 for the win at No. 1.

Colorado's Nadine Kenzelman cruised by OU's Mracnova, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 2 singles, handing the sophomore her seventh-straight loss. The Buffaloes swept the bottom of the lineup with victories at the No. 4, 5, and 6 singles slots. Losing their first match of the conference tournament were Oklahoma's Hamilton (No. 4), Guilford (No. 5) and Stroup (No. 6). Hamilton lost to Fischer, 7-5, 6-2, while Guilford fell to Aggie Bek, 6-2, 6-3, and Stroup dropped a 6-1, 6-4 decision to Anna Bek.

OU ended its regular season six days ago with a 6-3 loss to the Buffaloes in a match that didn't start until after midnight in Boulder, Colo.

At noon on Saturday, the Sooners will once again attempt to pull off an upset when it faces sixth-seeded Oklahoma State for the opportunity to play in the championship match on Sunday at 2 p.m. OSU also pulled off an upset as the Cowgirls defeated third-seeded Kansas, 5-4, Friday. Oklahoma State handed the Sooners a 5-4 loss in Stillwater two weeks ago. Last year, OU dominated Oklahoma State, winning 9-0 in Norman.

"We hung in there," said Oklahoma head coach Mark Johnson. "We watched OSU this morning and we talked about it after singles because four points mean nothing. OSU will be similar to today's match. We lost 5-4 to them two weeks ago and it came down to the last match like it did today. OSU is playing well and they're a good team. It'll be a fun match and we are glad to be playing in it."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Oklahoma Pulls Off Shocker Against Second-Seeded Colorado

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