Undefeated OU Women Preparing For Wichita State and Centenary

Feb. 6, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - The No. 52 Oklahoma women's tennis team went 3-0 last Friday at the Woodlake Racquet Club in Oklahoma City, Okla.. The Sooners defeated regional foe Oral Roberts, 7-0, in the first match of the afternoon and the downed Southern Nazarene, 7-0, and Oklahoma Baptist.

"I thought our team played really well today and it was a good start to the season," said Head Coach Mark Johnson. "All three of the teams that we played really challenged our players. The scores don't really indicate how close they were but there were some really tough matches."

The Sooners return to Woodlake Racquet Club in Oklahoma City this Friday (Feb. 7) to face another regional opponent in Wichita State. The Shockers are 1-1 on the season and coming off a 4-3 win over Wyoming. OU is back in action against the Centenary Ladies at the Santa Fe Country Club in Edmond, Okla. The Ladies (0-4) dropped their last match to Sam Houston State, 6-1.

Sooners In The Rankings

Junior Anda Perianu (Braila, Romania) currently sports a 2-0 record in the spring and is ranked 58th in the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings. Perianu is 7-2 overall this season and looking to repeat the successes of last season when she was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Regionally, Perianu is also ranked third in the central region.

In doubles, Perianu and sophomore Heather Saluri (Des Moines, Iowa) are 1-0 after their victory over ORU's Marlena Maciolek and Isabelle Soucy and are ranked 36th nationally. The duo are also ranked third in the regional rankings.

Johnson Continues 15th Year Of Coaching

In his 15th year as head coach at OU, Mark Johnson began the 2003 season with three consecutive victories to add to his overall record of 226-111 record (.671).

Johnson led his 1999 team to the championship match at the Big 12 Tournament, earning Big 12 Tri-Coach of the Year honors and 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 three singles qualifiers in Nicole Kenneally (1994), current OU assistant coach Raluca Gheorghe (1998) and current player Anda Perianu (2002).

The University Of Oklahoma Headington Family Tennis Center

OU continues its second season at the Oklahoma Headington Family Tennis Center. After several years of playing on unfamiliar courts and not having a place to call home, the Sooners are competing on some of the finest courts in the state of Oklahoma. The center was officially dedicated on Saturday, April 13 prior to OU's matches with Colorado.

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.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Undefeated OU Women Preparing For Wichita State and Centenary

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