OU Set For Bedlam Tennis Wednesday

NORMAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma women's tennis team prepares for another busy week and will try to extend its three-match winning streak as it returns to conference play to take on Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Missouri.

The past two weeks, the Sooners took a break from conference action and played four straight non-conference matches at home, winning three of them.

This week OU travels to Stillwater, Okla., for a Bedlam tennis match. OU faces the Oklahoma State Cowgirls at the DeBois Tennis Center on Wednesday, April 13 at 2 p.m.

Next, the Sooners will return home to the OU Headington Family Tennis Center for a match against Texas Tech Saturday, April 16 at 10 a.m. and a Sunday, April 17 match up with Missouri at 12 p.m.

Oklahoma State At A Glance
The Cowgirls arrive with a 6-12 overall mark and 2-5 record in Big 12 play. OU and OSU maintain similar records in conference play with both teams claiming victories over Kansas State and Iowa State and suffering similar losses to Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and Texas A&M. The Cowgirls snapped their two-match losing streak Sunday when they beat Boston College, 6-1. The Sooners defeated the BC Eagles, 6-1, on Saturday. Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 25-14. The last match up between both teams resulted in a close 4-3 Sooner victory last year in Norman.

See how the Sooners stack up against OSU in the Bedlam Series presented by the Bank of Oklahoma and Your Oklahoma Ford Dealers!

Texas Tech At A Glance
Texas Tech enters the match with a 7-11 overall record and a 4-5 mark in Big 12 play. The Red Raiders, currently ranked No. 60 in the ITA computer rankings, have been swept 7-0 in their last two matches, losing to No. 15 Baylor and No. 37 Texas A&M. Prior to taking on the Sooners, Texas Tech will challenge the Oklahoma State Cowgirls Friday, April 15. In the all-time series with the Red Raiders, the Sooners lead 9-6 with a 7-2 record under current head coach Mark Johnson's direction. The teams last met in Lubbock in 2004 where OU swept Tech, 7-0.

Missouri At A Glance
Currently, the Tigers own a 14-5 overall record and a 4-4 mark in conference play. In the latest ITA computer rankings, Missouri is ranked No. 55 after winning its last two matches against Big 12 foes Kansas and Kansas State. Prior to arriving in Norman the Tigers are slated for a Saturday match against Oklahoma State in Stillwater. Oklahoma holds an advantage in the all-time series, leading it 20-1 with the Sooners only loss coming in 2001. The schools challenged each other twice in 2004 with OU claiming a 5-2 victory in March and winning 4-1 (weather-shortened match) in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Both Sooner victories were in Norman.

Sooners Claim Three Victories
OU took three straight non-conference wins last week against Oral Roberts, Wichita State and Boston College at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center. The OU netters started the winning streak with a 7-0 defeat of Oral Roberts Tuesday, April 5. The Sooners snapped their four-match losing streak after sweeping the doubles portion and claiming all six singles points in straight sets.

Next, Oklahoma swept the Wichita State Shockers, 7-0, on Thursday, April 7. Highlighting the day was sophomore Irina Lykina who earned her fourth-straight victory after claiming six straight points in the second set to win, 6-0, 6-3, at the No. 2 slot.

The Sooners finished off the three-match sweep with a 6-1 defeat of Boston College Saturday, April 9. OU took the doubles point and claimed five of six singles positions to end Boston College's six-match winning streak. Freshman Christi Baxley clinched the match for the Sooners at the No. 5 spot and added her 15th win of the season, a Sooner best. In doubles action, the duo of senior Heather Saluri and freshman Chelsea Orr improved their perfect doubles record to 5-0 while senior Jessica Braver and Lykina earned their third-straight win.

Sooner Rankings
In the latest ITA computer rankings (April 12), the Sooners dropped six spots to No. 69 despite recording wins against Oral Roberts, Wichita State and Boston College last week. Oklahoma faces two teams ranked in the ITA poll this week with Texas Tech at No. 60 and Missouri at No. 55. Currently two Big 12 teams remain in the top-25 with the Texas Longhorns and Baylor Bears holding the No. 11 and 12 spots, respectively.

Sooners Finish Regular Season Next Week
The OU women will wrap up regular season play next week with matches against No. 12 Baylor and No. 62 Colorado. Oklahoma will host its final home match of the season against the Baylor Bears Thursday, April 21 at 2 p.m. at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center. In its final regular-season match, OU will head to Boulder, Colo., to take on Colorado Saturday, April 23 at 11 a.m. The following week the Sooners will head to Austin, Texas for the Big 12 Championships April 28-May 1.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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