Women's Tennis Heads to Texas

NORMAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma women's tennis team will hit the road this weekend for a pair of duals against Big 12 foes Texas A&M and Texas. The Sooners will head to College Station, Texas, Thursday, March 24 for a match against the Aggies at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center at 6 p.m.

Next, OU travels to Austin, Texas, for a match against Big 12 leader and ninth-ranked Texas on Saturday, March 26 at 10 a.m. at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center.

Scouting Texas A&M
The Aggies are on a roll after shutting out Tulsa, 7-0, in their last match and improving their record to 6-9 this spring. While A&M has lost nine matches this season, five of them came at the hands of top 20 teams the Aggies faced. Texas A&M currently holds a 1-1 conference record with a win against Oklahoma State and a loss to Nebraska, whom the Sooners also lost to earlier this spring. The Aggies own the all-time series against the Sooners, 12-4, with the last meeting at the 2004 Big 12 Championships. The match served in the Aggies's favor with a 4-2 win over the Sooners.

Scouting Texas
Big 12 leader and No. 9 Texas will prove to be a tough challenge for the Sooners this weekend. The Longhorns are on fire after upsetting then No. 5 Vanderbilt, 4-3, over the weekend. UT holds an undefeated record in the Big 12 of 4-0 and a 9-4 overall mark this spring, with all four losses suffered to top 20 teams. The Sooners face a tough match up in doubles against the No. 18 pair of Katie Ruckert and Kendra Strohm.

OU is looking for its second all-time win against the Longhorns with Texas leading the all-time series 15-1. Current head coach Mark Johnson is the only Sooner coach to claim a victory over UT after defeating the Longhorns in Austin in 2003, 4-3. The last meeting between both teams resulted in a close 4-3 Texas victory in Norman in 2004.

OU Suffers Tough Loss to Kansas, 4-3
The Sooners endured their second Big 12 loss of the season last Friday to the Kansas Jayhawks, 4-3, at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center. OU claimed the doubles point and took two singles matches. Adding singles points for the Sooners were freshman Christi Baxley and senior Jessica Braver. Baxley continued her stellar play after claiming her 11th win of the season, more than any Sooner, and winning her sixth straight match. Braver earned her ninth victory of the season, winning in straight sets.

Freshman Phenom
Christi Baxley has been on fire since the start of the spring season for the Sooners. The freshman from New Braunfels, Texas, has had an immediate impact on the Sooners. Baxley has participated in all but one match for the Sooners and currently holds a spring singles record of 11-1, the best of any Sooner on the team. Baxley's victories have come from all different positions with an 8-1 record at the No. 6 slot, a 2-0 record at No. 5 and a perfect 1-0 at No. 3 singles.

Sooner Rankings
OU is currently ranked No. 55 in the first ITA computer rankings of the season released Tuesday, March 22. Previously, the rankings were in the form of a poll but will now remain computer rankings for the entire season. Both opponents OU faces this weekend are ranked above the Sooners. Texas A&M is currently No. 38 while the Texas Longhorns are No. 9.

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 19-6 in singles and 15-9 in doubles this spring. As a combined group, the freshmen have accounted for 75 percent of the team's doubles wins and 34 percent of the singles victories 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
After the tough road stretch, OU will head back to Norman to play four non-conference home matches in 10 days. The home stand will open against Texas Christian Wednesday, March 30, and continue with matches against Oral Roberts, Wichita State and Boston College. After the home stretch, the Sooners will head to Stillwater for Bedlam against Oklahoma State on April 13.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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