University of Oklahoma Athletics

Women's Tennis Prepares For Matches in Hawaii

March 12, 2002 | Women's Tennis

March 12, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma women's tennis team returns to action on Monday, March 18, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Sooners play three matches, taking on Chaminade University on Monday the 18th, Hawaii on Tuesday the 19th and Clemson on Wednesday the 20th.

Oklahoma is 8-2 on the season and ranked No. 37 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll going into weekend play. Chaminade is 0-5 on the season, with losses to BYU and Hawaii Pacific. Hawaii is 0-7 on the year, while Clemson is 5-6.

Sooners Lose Big 12 Weekend Matches in Kansas
Oklahoma lost its first two matches of the season to No. 48 Kansas State and No. 59 Kansas last weekend. The Wildcats put an end to OU's eight-match winning streak on Saturday by defeating the Sooners, 6-1. On Sunday, the Jayhawks outplayed Oklahoma to take the match, 6-1. OU drops to 8-2 on the season, 0-2 in Big 12 Conference play.

Freshman Bethany Griffin beat KSU's Paulina Castillejos at the No. 5 spot and Anda Perianu defeated KU's Cheryl Mallaiah at the No. 1 for Oklahoma's only singles wins. The combination of Elena Jirnova and Perianu won both their weekend matches at No. 3 doubles, improving to 8-0 on the year.

Leading the Sooners
Sophomore newcomer Anda Perianu sports a 8-1 record at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, while freshman Heather Saluri holds an overall 10-3 record at No. 2, 4 and 5 singles. The duo of Perianu and junior newcomer Elena Jirnova are 9-0 in No. 2 and 3 doubles action on the season.

Mark Johnson in 14th Year of Coaching
In his 14th year as head coach at OU, Mark Johnson began the 2002 season with two 7-0 wins over Oklahoma Baptist with his five newcomers winning all five singles matches. The Sooners have defeated then-No. 59 New Mexico (4-3), Minnesota (5-2), St. Louis (6-1), No. 22 TCU (4-3), ORU (7-0) and Central Florida (5-2). Johnson carries a 214-105 record (.671) and led his 1999 team to the championship match at the Big 12 Tournament, earning Big 12 Tri-Coach of the Year honors. Johnson has also coached five consecutive teams to ITA Academic All-America team honors dating back to the 1997 season.

Johnson was named Big Eight Coach of the Year in 1991, 1994 and 1995 after leading his teams to a combined 60-16 record in those three years. He has coached three NCAA doubles qualifiers in Nicole Kenneally and Jenny Del Valle (1994), Monique Malan and Karla Golfin (1996) and Angela Stroup and Viviana Mracnova (2000), and two singles qualifiers in Nicole Kenneally (1994) and current OU assistant coach Raluca Gheorghe (1998).

The University of Oklahoma Headington Family Tennis Center
The Sooner women will play in the newly constructed OU Headington Family Tennis Center for the first time on March 29. After several years of playing on unfamiliar courts and not having a place to call home, the Sooners will compete on some of the finest courts in the state of Oklahoma.

The new tennis center is equipped with 12 NCAA championship courts and NCAA championship lighting. There is permanent seating for up to 800 spectators. The center is located at the corner of Chatauqua and Imhoff, directly south of the OU Soccer Complex.

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