Sooners Enter Final Week Of Regular Season

NORMAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma women's tennis team will wrap up its last two regular season matches this week before heading to Austin for the Big 12 Tournament (April 28-May 1). OU will play its last home match of the 2005 season Thursday, April 21 at 2 p.m. against Big 12 leader and No.14 Baylor at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center.

The match will feature the final career home match for OU seniors Jessica Braver, Bethany Griffin and Heather Saluri. Admission to the match is free and live scoring will also be available at SoonerSports.com.

The Sooners will finish out the regular season in Boulder, Colo., against Colorado on Saturday, April 23 at 12 p.m. (CST).

Baylor At A Glance
Oklahoma faces a tough task in conference-leader and No. 14 Baylor, who arrives with an overall mark of 18-4 and a perfect 9-0 conference record. Individually, the Sooners will go head-to-head with Baylor's No. 27 Zuzana Zemenova who owns a perfect 8-0 record in conference at the No. 1 position and has won her last seven straight. In doubles, OU will face the No. 23 duo of Daniella Covello and Zuzana Cerna, the highest ranked doubles tandem the Sooners have seen all season.

In the all-time series the teams have only played nine times, with Baylor leading the series 6-3. In the 2004 match up, OU edged the Bears, 4-3, in Waco, Texas.

Colorado At A Glance
The match up in Boulder will feature two identical teams tied for sixth in the Big 12 Conference with a 4-5 record in Big 12 play. No. 62 Colorado owns with an overall record of 9-10 and is coming off a close 4-3 win over Kansas State this past Sunday. The Buffaloes are riding a two-match winning streak entering the contest. CU head coach Nicole Kenneally will be coaching against her alma mater, Oklahoma, where she was a two-time NCAA qualifier and the 1994 Big Eight Player of the Year. The Sooners lead the all-time series 18-8 with the last match up in 2004 in Norman where OU handily defeated Colorado, 5-2.

Senior Finale
Thursday's match against Baylor will not only be the end of the 2005 home season, but it will also feature the end of three Sooners' home careers. The senior trio of Jessica Braver, Bethany Griffin and Heather Saluri have left their mark on OU with a current overall individual record of 177-125 in singles and 203-118 in doubles. In their four-year careers, Oklahoma has recorded a current overall record of 51-29. Individually, each senior has made an impact on the Oklahoma program both athletically and academically.

Braver, an Oklahoma City native, has been a seven-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average the past six consecutive semesters. The 2004 CoSIDA Academic All-District second team selection owns a current record of 53-39 in singles and a 58-43 mark in doubles. Recently, Braver was honored by the athletic department as a recipient of the Athletics Director's Leadership Award.

Griffin, arriving from Amarillo, Texas, has produced a current overall career record of 58-43 in singles and 68-36 in doubles. The seven-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll also was the 2004 Big 12 No. 3 doubles position champion with teammate Gabby Baker. Griffin was recently acknowledged by the athletic department as an Athletics Council Achievement Award recipient for overcoming personal odds to achieve academic success.

Des Moines, Iowa native, Saluri has left her mark in OU history books after recording the most doubles victories in a season (23) in 2004 with partner Anda Perianu. Saluri's a defending two-time All-Big 12 doubles team selection and reached the NCAA Doubles Championships in 2003 and 2004. The Sooner netter has comprised a current overall record of 66-43 in singles and a 77-39 mark in doubles. In addition, she is a two-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.

Sooners Take Two of Three Last Week
In a week packed with tough Big 12 opponents, the Oklahoma women's tennis started the week off with a thrilling 4-3 victory over in-state rival Oklahoma State on Wednesday, April 13 in a marathon match that lasted over five hours and 30 minutes. The final point came down to senior Jessica Braver against OSU's Jennifer Poskitt at the No. 4 slot. Braver dropped the first set 1-6, but held on in the second for a 6-3 win to force a final set. The netter from Edmond, Okla., rallied to a 7-5 third-set win to add the final point to the Sooner scoreboard.

Next, the Sooners hosted No. 60 Texas Tech Saturday, April 16 at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center. OU suffered its first loss in four matches after dropping a 5-2 loss to the Red Raiders. Braver and freshman Christi Baxley provided the only OU points of the match with wins at the No. 4 and 5 slots, respectively.

OU finished out the week with 4-3 win over No. 55 Missouri Sunday, April 17 at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center. It marked the second time this season the Sooners, then No. 69, defeated a higher-ranked team. OU came out firing in doubles, claiming all three positions to win the doubles point. Baxley provided the winning match at the No. 5 slot to earn the victory for the Sooners. Also adding singles points for OU was senior Heather Saluri at the No. 2 slot and senior Bethany Griffin at the No. 3 position.

Sooner Rankings
After earning two Big 12 wins last week, the Sooners jumped five spots to No. 64 in the latest ITA computer rankings released April 19. Both opponents the Sooners face this week are ranked in the top 75 with Baylor leading the way at No. 14 and Colorado two spots above OU at No. 62.

Big 12 Tournament
After wrapping up regular season play this week, the OU women's team will begin post-season action in Austin, Texas with the first-round beginning Thursday, April 28 at 10 a.m. at the Penick Allison Tennis Center. The Big 12 Championship round will be held Sunday, May 1 at 1 p.m. Currently, the Sooners own a record of 4-5 in the Big 12 and are tied with Colorado for sixth in the standings.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Enter Final Week Of Regular Season

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