OU Faces Texas Tech in Big 12s

OU Women's Tennis (No. 10 Seed, 9-13 Overall, 3-8 Big 12)
First Round	vs. Texas Tech (No. 7, 9-12, 4-6 Big 12)
Date	Thursday, April 23 at 1:30 p.m.
Location	Headington Family Tennis Center \| Gregg Wadley Pavilion
Bracket	Updated Bracket
Internet	Live Scoring
Big 12 Central	SoonerSports.com Championships Coverage

NORMAN, Okla.--The University of Oklahoma women's tennis team begins post-season play, at the 2009 Big 12 Championships in Norman, Okla., the 10th seeded Sooners will take on No. 7 seed Texas Tech on Thursday, April 23 at 1:30 p.m. at the Headington Family Tennis Center.

Oklahoma (9-13, 3-8 Big 12) will play the Lady Raiders for the second time in five days. The Sooners closed out their regular-season with a convincing 6-1 win against Texas Tech on Sunday, April 19. The match marked Oklahoma's second win against a ranked-opponent and brought OU's home record to 5-2.

"It is always tough to play the same team twice within a few days, I expect a much closer match with tech tomorrow," OU head coach David Mullins said. "I am confident the girls can repeat their performances of last weekend, and finish the year strongly."

Leading the way for the Sooners in singles will be sophomore Ana-Maria Constantinescu. Constantinescu finished the regular season undefeated in conference play and a 16-2 overall record. Constantinescu has played four-individually ranked opponents, and defeated three of them. The Sooners' standout beat No. 5 Baylor's Taylor Ormond, ranked No. 46 individually, on Saturday, April 18, 6-1, 6-2. Constantinescu currently leads the Big 12 at the No. 1 singles position and entered the national rankings on Tuesday, coming in at No. 103 in singles.

In doubles, sophomore Tara Eckel and freshman Marie-Pier Huet hope to carry their regular-season success into the tournament. Eckel and Huet currently lead the Big 12 at the No. 2 doubles position with an 8-1 conference record at the No. 2 spot. The duo holds a 9-2 conference record and 14-4 overall record. The duo defeated Texas Tech's Samantha Van der Drift and Kelsey Garland, ranked No. 58 as a duo, on Sunday, April 19, 8-3.

Oklahoma holds a 8-12 record in the Big 12 Championships over the past 12 seasons. The Sooners' highest finish came in 1999, OU was the tournament runner-up after falling to Texas in the final round, 5-1.

The tournament will be the Sooners' first post-season appearance with Mullins as head coach. Mullins is no stranger to post-season success, after helping Northwestern to three-straight Big 10 championships during his three seasons as the Wildcats' assistant coach.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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