Women's Tennis Starts the Season Strong

Women's Tennis Begins Home Matches
The 35th-ranked Oklahoma women's tennis team (2-0) will play its first home indoor matches this weekend. The Sooners will have a triple-header dual on Friday Feb. 6, when they take on Oklahoma Baptist, Oral Roberts (0-1) and Southern Nazarine at the Woodlake Racquet Club starting at 10 a.m. in Oklahoma City. OU will open its Big 12 Conference schedule against Iowa State (0-1) Saturday Feb. 7, at the Santa Fe Country Club in Oklahoma City at 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Sooners Start the Season Strong
The Sooners had an impressive start to the season last week as they won two tough road matches in Arizona last week. OU defeated San Diego, 5-2, and upset No. 27 Arizona, 4-3. Against San Diego the Sooners swept all three doubles and then took four of the six singles matches to win the dual.
OU followed that victory by upsetting a tough Arizona team on its home courts. Oklahoma came from behind to clinch the win. OU dominated the singles by claiming four straight set victories. Senior Anda Perianu (Braila, Romania), junior Heather Saluri (Des Moines, Iowa), and freshmen Irina Lykina (Kazan, Russia), and Amanda Pratzel (St. Louis, Missouri) all posted singles wins for the Sooners.

Undefeated Sooners
Four Sooners are undefeated in singles play after two matches. Anda Perianu, Irina Lykina, and Heather Saluri posted wins against San Diego and Arizona. Pratzel won her first match of the season against Arizona. Perianu defeated two ranked players and Lykina upset No. 29 Maja Mlakar of Arizona, 6-3, 6-4. In doubles play, OU's team of Bethany Griffin (Amarillo, Texas) and Gabby Baker (Gold Coast, Australia) remain undefeated at the No. 3 spot.

Mark Johnson In 16th Year At Oklahoma
In his 16th year as head coach at Oklahoma, Mark Johnson carries a career record of 240-119 (.668) and led four teams to the NCAA Championships. In addition, Johnson sent two Sooners to the NCAA Individual Championships and was named Wilson Central Regional Coach of the Year in 2003. OU finished last season with a 19-7 record the most since the 1996 squad produced the same record and finished fifth in the Big 12 Conference.

OU To Host Big 12 Championships
Oklahoma will host the 2004 Men's and Women's Big 12 Tennis Championships this spring at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman. Tournament action begins Fri., April 30 and runs through Sun., May 2.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Women's Tennis Starts the Season Strong

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