OU Finishes Second in Big 12 Women's Tennis Championship

May 2, 1999

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The University of Oklahoma women's tennis team battled the nation's seventh-ranked Texas Longhorns in the title match of the 1999 Big 12 Conference Championship today. Top-seeded Texas (20-6) won its third consecutive Big 12 women's tennis title with a 5-1 win over the Sooners (14-11) at the Texas A&M Varsity Tennis Courts in College Station, Texas.

Texas quickly took a 4-0 lead with wins at the No. 2, 3, 4 and 6 singles positions, but Oklahoma held on as senior Raluca Gheorghe and junior Kristin Guilford forced their opponents to play three sets. Guilford gave the Sooners their first point and cut the lead to 4-1 with a 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Kim Gates at the No. 5 slot. With the win, Guilford pushed her overall singles record to 22-13, a team best, and 3-1 in Big 12 Tournament play.

Gheorghe, who also went 3-1 in tournament action, suffered her first loss of the Championship to No. 33 Sandy Sureephong. She led in the final set, 5-3, but failed to put Sureephong away as she tied the match at 5-5 and held Gheorghe scoreless to capture a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 7-5 win for the Big 12 title.

This marked Oklahoma's first Big 12 championship match appearance. Last year, OU advanced to the quarterfinals and in 1997 the Sooners appeared in the semifinals.

"Texas is just good," said Oklahoma head coach Mark Johnson. "They have the most talent and the best coach in the conference. It's a hard combination to beat. I'm really proud of our girls today. Our goal was to just hang in there, but we ended up being just one point away (from forcing doubles). We just couldn't get that last point."

- OU -

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Finishes Second in Big 12 Women's Tennis Championship

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