Women's Tennis Hits The Road

NORMAN, Okla. - The 24th-ranked Oklahoma women's tennis team takes to the road this week for three non-conference matches. OU stays in state to take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-2) Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla., at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The Sooners dominated Tulsa, 5-2, in the teams' last meeting in 2004.

In weekend action, the Sooners will head to Albuquerque, N.M. where they are slated to take on host New Mexico (2-3) on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. (CST) at the Lobo Tennis Club. The Sooners are faced with two key match ups in the dual against the Lobos. The Sooners face Maja Kovacek ranked No. 24 nationally and the doubles pair of Kovacek and Iva Gersic who are No. 4 in the country. New Mexico handily beat the Sooners, 5-2, in the 2004 dual.

After taking on New Mexico, the Sooners will go head-to-head with Montana State (2-6) Sunday, Feb. 20 at 10 a.m. (CST) in Albuquerque. The match up marks the first ever meeting between the two teams.

Sooners Down Utah State, 6-1
Oklahoma added another victory to its win column after defeating Utah State, 6-1, Thursday, Feb. 10 in Logan, Utah. The Sooners swept the doubles and claimed five singles wins for the victory. Sophomore Irina Lykina continued to excel at the No. 1 position winning in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3.

No. 24 OU Falls To No. 23 BYU, 5-2
Oklahoma dropped its first match of the season in a top-25 showdown with host and 23rd-ranked BYU. The No. 24 Sooners suffered a 5-2 setback to the Cougars inside the BYU Indoor Tennis Complex in Provo, Utah. The Sooners posted victories at the No. 1 and No. 6 singles positions for OU's only points of the match. Sophomore Irina Lykina defeated BYU's Lauren Jones at the top singles position, marking Lykina's fourth straight No. 1 singles victory. In doubles action, the duo of Heather Saluri and Lykina provided the highlight of the day by upsetting BYU's 44th-ranked pair of Dolly Chang and Jones, 9-7.

Sophomore Gabby Baker Sidelined For Season
Sophomore standout Gabby Baker and probable top singles player for the Sooners will miss the entire spring season after tearing her ACL and MCL in her left knee while at home in Australia in January. Baker had surgery Friday, Feb. 4 to repair the ligaments. As a freshman, Baker was the Big 12 No. 3 singles and doubles position champion with a 10-3 singles record and an 8-3 record in doubles in conference play. During the 2004 fall campaign, she led all Sooners with a 5-2 singles record.

Oklahoma Completes Fall Campaign
During the 2004 fall season, OU competed in a short stint of individual competitive play where the Sooners produced a total individual record of 27-14 in singles and 14-10 in doubles. Leading the way for OU during the fall campaign was sophomore Gabby Baker with a 5-2 record in singles and 3-1 in doubles. The Sooners only tournaments included the Las Vegas Invitational and the ITA Regional Championships.

Sooner Rankings
OU moved up to No. 24 in the ITA Tennis Rankings released Feb. 16, 2005. The Sooners hold the highest ranking of all the Central Region teams. Texas, at No. 13, is the only Big 12 team ahead of the Sooners in the ITA poll.

OU Newcomers
The addition of five freshmen to the Oklahoma roster strengthens OU's possible lineups. Topping that group are Christi Baxley (New Braunfels, Texas), Rachael Cox (Acworth, Ga.), Christy Greenly (Yukon, Okla.) and Chelsea Orr (Tulsa, Okla.), Oklahoma's high school tennis player of the year in 2003.

Mark Johnson In 17th Year At Oklahoma
In his 17th year as head coach at OU, Mark Johnson carries a career record of 262-124 (.679), and has coached 33 conference champions, four NCAA singles qualifiers as well as five pairs of NCAA doubles qualifiers. In addition, the five-time coach of the year has also coached eight consecutive teams to ITA Academic All-America honors.

Looking Ahead
The Sooners will take on Rice Friday, Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. at the Woodlake Racquet Club in Oklahoma City.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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