Women's Tennis Downs Utah State, 6-1

NORMAN, Okla. - The 24th-ranked Oklahoma women's tennis team got off to a good start in its first road match of the season with a 6-1 win over Utah State Thursday in Logan, Utah. The Sooners swept the doubles and claimed five singles wins for the victory. With the win, OU improved to 5-0 while the Aggies fell to 2-2.

"This was a really good match for us," head coach Mark Johnson said. "It was a little different for our girls to play in that type of altitude but they fought hard and were able to play an overall good match."

The Sooners dominated the doubles and swept Utah State at all three positions. At No. 1, senior Bethany Griffin and freshman Chelsea Orr teamed up to defeat Utah State's Linsey Bennion and Carolyn Stephens, 8-3. At the No. 2 spot, seniors Heather Saluri and Jessica Braver won 8-4, defeating USU's Courtney Anderson and Andrea Barker while freshman Christy Greenly and sophomore Irina Lykina defeated the Aggies' Jill Smith and Lauren Monson 8-6, at the No. 3 position for the Sooner sweep.

In singles action, Lykina came out firing against Bennion winning in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, while OU's Griffin dominated Utah State's Smith 6-3, 6-2. In addition, Saluri came up with OU's third singles point with a straight-set win over USU's Stephens 7-5, 6-4.

Freshmen Christi Baxley and Greenly also claimed two points for the Sooners with their singles victories. Baxley handily defeated Utah State's Monson 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 6 position. Greenly fought through a tough match winning the first set 6-4, but dropping the second set in a 6-7 tiebreaker. Greenly bounced back to claim the victory with a 10-4 super tiebreaker set.

The only loss of the day for the Sooners came at the No. 4 spot when Braver battled against Utah State's Courtney Anderson where she dropped the first set 4-6, but battled back with a 7-5 victory in the second set before losing the match in the tiebreaker set, 4-10.

The No. 24 Sooners have a day off before a top-25 match up against No. 23 BYU Saturday, Feb. 12 at the BYU Indoor Tennis Complex in Provo, Utah at 1 p.m. (CST).

No. 24 Oklahoma 6, Utah State 1
Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005
Logan, Utah

Singles
1. Irina Lykina (OU) def. Lindsey Bennion (USU) 7-5, 6-3
2. Beth Griffin (OU) def. Jill Smith (USU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Heather Saluri (OU) def. Carolyn Stephens (USU) 7-5, 6-4
4. Courtney Anderson (USU) def. Jessica Braver (OU) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0
5. Christy Greenly (OU) def. Andrea Barker (USU) 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 1-0
6. Christi Baxley (OU) def. Lauren Monson (USU) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles
1. Griffin/Chelsea Orr (OU) def. Bennion/Stephens (USU) 8-3
2. Braver/Saluri (OU) def. Anderson/Barker (USU) 8-4
3. Greenly/Lykina (OU) def. Smith/Monson (USU) 8-6

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