Perianu and Saluri Set For NCAA Championships

Despite Oklahoma's first round exit in the NCAA Team Championships against Alabama, two Sooners were awarded automatic bids for the NCAA Individual and Doubles Championships. Both tournaments will be played at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla.

For the second year in a row, junior Anda Perianu (Braila, Romania) (ON-duh Pair-ee-on-oo) was selected to compete in the field of 64 at the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Individual Championships. Perianu and doubles partner Heather Saluri (Des Moines, Iowa) were also chosen to play in the 32-team NCAA Doubles Championships.

Singles play is slated to begin on Monday, May 19, at 8 a.m. while the doubles tournament begins at the same time the following day. Perianu is the first Sooner since Nicole Kenneally in 1994 to be selected to participate in both the singles and doubles tournaments in the same season.

Most Recent Oklahoma NCAA Qualifiers
        2002    Anda Perianu (singles)
        2000    Angela Stroup (doubles)
        2000    Viviana Mracnova (doubles)
        1998    Raluca Gheorghe (singles)
        1996    Karla Golfin (doubles)
        1996    Monique Malan (doubles)
        1994    Jenny Del Valle (doubles)
        1994    Nicole Kenneally (singles and doubles)

Dynamic Duo Posts 18th Win At No. 1 Doubles
Anda Perianu and Heather Saluri's 8-4 victory at No. 1 singles was OU's only victory in a 4-0 defeat to 32nd-ranked Alabama last Saturday. The win over the Crimson Tide's Natalie McElveen and Robin Stephenson gave the Sooner duo their 18th win at No. 1 and 23rd this year.

OU Trio Earns Honors
Junior Anda Perianu is having one of the best seasons in Oklahoma women's tennis history. The Romania native was named the 2003 Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Year becoming the first OU player to do so. Perianu also won the Big 12 No. 1 position championship with a record of 10-1 this spring. The preseason All-Big 12 selection earned all-conference first team honors for the second straight year as well as first team honors in doubles for the first time with doubles partner Heather Saluri. The duo finished second at No. 1 doubles with a record of 7-2 in conference behind Missouri's Urska Juric and Katka Sevcikova.

Senior Melissa Mendieta (San Jose, Costa Rica) was named Co-Champion at No. 6 singles with Colorado's Morgan Sall. Mendieta finished the season with a record of 7-3 at No. 6 and also went 1-0 at No. 5 to add to her conference victories. She defeated Sall in the last regular season match in Westminster, Colo., 6-2, 6-2.

Mark Johnson Named Central Region Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year
University of Oklahoma head women's tennis coach Mark Johnson was named the Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association this past week. It's the first time in Johnson's career to receive coach of the year honors on a national level. He earned Big 12 Tri-Coach of the Year honors in 1999 and was named Big Eight Coach of the Year in 1991, 1994 and 1995.

In his 15th season, Johnson carries a career record of 242-118 (.672) and has now taken four teams to the NCAA Championships. He also led his 1999 team to the championship match of the Big 12 Tournament. He has also coached five consecutive teams to ITA Academic All-America team honors dating back to the 1997 season.

Johnson has coached three other 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 Kenneally (1994), current OU assistant coach Raluca Gheorghe (1998) and current Sooner Anda Perianu (2002).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Perianu and Saluri Set For NCAA Championships

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