Women's Tennis Begins Big 12 Play

This Week in Sooner Tennis
No. 40 Oklahoma vs. No. 38 Nebraska
- Saturday, March 5
- 10 a.m.
- Lincoln, Nebraska

No. 40 Oklahoma vs. Iowa State
- Sunday, March 6
- 10 a.m.
- Des Moines, Iowa

OU Opens Big 12 Play
After competing in 10 non-conference duals, the No. 40 Sooners are set to open Big 12 Conference play with a pair of road matches this weekend. The Sooners will face No. 38 Nebraska Saturday, March 5 at 10 a.m. in Lincoln, Neb. The Huskers are off to a hot start this spring with a record of 11-1 and are coming off of a dominating 7-0 win over Wichita State. OU also faces two tough match ups against Nebraska's No. 18 Gitte Osterman in singles and the 23rd-ranked doubles pair of Osterman and Katie Garcia.

The Sooners own an all-time record of 21-6 against Nebraska. In the team's last meeting in 2004 the Sooners handily beat the Huskers, 7-0, in Norman.

Next, the Sooners will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to challenge Iowa State Sunday, March 6 at 10 a.m. The Cyclones are 0-3 this spring after having multiple matches cancelled due to weather and will face Northern Colorado Friday, March 4 before meeting OU on Sunday. The Sooners dominate the series record against the Cyclones 23-1. In last year's only match up between the teams, Oklahoma blanked Iowa State, 7-0, in Norman.

Sooners Upset Rice, 4-3
OU pulled off its first upset of the season Friday, Feb. 25 when the No. 43 Sooners edged No. 36 Rice, 4-3, in Oklahoma City at the Woodlake Racquet Club. Oklahoma improved its record to 7-3 and claimed its first victory over a ranked opponent this year. While the Sooners weren't able to claim the doubles point in the dual, they came out firing in singles and won four positions to win the dual. Highlighting the day was freshman Christi Baxley's and senior Heather Saluri who picked up their seventh and sixth singles wins, respectively, of the season.

Did You Know?
In the 10 matches the Sooners have played this spring they have used 15 different doubles pairings. Seven of those pairs are undefeated with three duos leading the way at 2-0. Those pairings include seniors Jessica Braver and Heather Saluri at No. 2 doubles, freshman Chelsea Orr and Saluri also at the No. 2 slot and sophomore Irina Lykina and freshman Christy Greenly at the No. 3 position.

Sooner Rankings
After upsetting Rice last week, the Oklahoma Sooners have climbed up the ITA rankings that were released Tuesday, March 1. Oklahoma, previously at No. 43, improved to No. 40. Also moving up in the rankings was Nebraska, the Sooners' opponent Saturday. The Huskers moved to No. 38 after dominating performances against Wichita State, Utah and Drake last week.

Sophomore Gabby Baker Sidelined For Season
Sophomore standout Gabby Baker will miss the 2005 spring season due to tearing her ACL and MCL in her left knee while at home in Australia in January. Baker had surgery 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 and was expected to compete at No. 1 singles this spring.

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. The freshmen have made an immediate impact on the Sooners with an overall class record of 13-5 in singles and 9-3 in doubles this spring.

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
OU will host its home-opener Saturday, March 12 against Kansas State at 12 p.m. at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Okla. The Sooners will remain at home for a match up against the Kansas Jayhawks slated for Friday, March 18 at 11 a.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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