Sooners Take Home Both Regional Titles

Oct. 25, 2009

NORMAN, Okla.-- Host Oklahoma won both Main Draw titles Sunday at the 2009 Wilson/ITA Central Region Women's Championships behind junior Ana-Maria Constantinescu and freshman Teona Tsertsvadze.

Constantinescu claimed the Main Draw Singles Championship and then joined partner Tsertsvadze to win the Main Draw Doubles Championship. With the wins, Constantinescu and Tsertsvadze qualify for the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, November 5-8, hosted by the Yale University in New Haven, Conn.

"I am thrilled for both Ana-Maria and Teona," OU head coach David Mullins said. "They have the opportunity to go play against the best competition in the country in a couple of weeks."

In the singles final, Constantinescu beat Kate Lukomskaya of Arkansas in her third three-set match in 24 hours. After back-and-forth games, Lukomskaya took the first set, 7-5. Constantinescu came back firing in the second and third to clinch the Central Region Singles Championship, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

"Ana-Maria did an incredible job today after eight hours of tennis yesterday afternoon," Mullins said. "Even though she was a little tired today, she competed as hard as ever and found a way to get the job done. She has worked extremely hard since the end of last season to fulfill this goal and I'm just very happy for her."

The win is Constantinescu's first title win in the Wilson/ITA Central Region Championship tournament. Constantinescu lost in the 2007 finals as a freshman and lost in the semifinals in 2008.

In the doubles final, Constantinescu and Tsertsvadze led No. 1 seeded Claudine Paulson and Anouk Tigu of Arkansas 5-1 at one point, before a 6-2 rally by Arkansas brought the match to 7-7. The Sooner duo claimed the next two games to clinch the Central Region Doubles Championship, 9-7.

In arguably the best fall tournament performance under Mullins, the Sooners went 19-5 overall, 12-3 in singles and 7-2 in doubles, during the tournament. Oklahoma had players in all three tournament finals (Main Draw singles, Main Draw doubles and Consolation singles) and took home both Main Draw titles.

"Overall, it was an outstanding week," Mullins said. "I saw a huge improvement throughout the whole team. Although I am delighted to have won the singles and doubles titles, I am even more excited about the progress we made as a team over the course of just five days."

The Sooners improved dramatically from the last year's regional tournament. In 2008 Oklahoma went 8-10 overall, 7-7 in singles and 1-3 in doubles.

Sophomore Marie-Pier Huet narrowly missed the Main Draw singles final after losing to Lukomskaya on Saturday. Huet went 4-0 on her way to the semifinals, a vast improvement from last year's tournament. As a freshman Huet went 0-2 after advancing from the qualifying round.

Oklahoma hosted the Wilson/ITA Central Regionals for the first time in program history, made possible by the addition of the new Gregg Wadley Indoor Tennis Pavilion.

The Sooners will get Halloween weekend off before competing in two tournaments Nov. 5-8. Constantinescu and Tsertsvadze will head to New Haven, Conn., for the ITA National Indoor Championships while the rest of the team travels to San Diego, Calif., for the San Diego State Invitational.

For the complete bracket from the Wilson/ITA Central Regionals, follow the link below.

Wilson/ITA Central Region Women's Championship Brackets

2009 Wilson/ITA Central Region Women's Championships
Final Results

Singles Final
Ana-Maria Constantinescu (OKL) def. Kate Lukomskaya (ARK), 5-7, 6-3, 6-2

Doubles Final
Constantinescu/Tsertsvadze (OKL) def. Paulson/Tigu (ARK), 9-7