OU Remains Unbeaten, Claims Fourth Shutout

Feb. 14, 2010

NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma women's tennis team remains undefeated after taking down the Penn State Nittany Lions, 7-0 , Sunday in its fourth shutout this season.

With the win, No. 55 Oklahoma (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) matched the program's best start in seven seasons. The last time OU started 5-0 was in 2005 when the Sooners started the year with five-straight wins before losing to BYU.

“Overall I'm very satisfied, it was another great win for us,” OU head coach David Mullins said. “I thought we came out with good energy today in doubles but we were quick to get away from it.”

Oklahoma struggled early in doubles but came back to win the doubles point behind wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots, bringing the team score to 1-0.

“Doubles was definitely a letdown from last week,” Mullins said. “We played a couple of good games to get started but then we let down a little bit. That affected our play and I think we played probably the worst doubles point we've played all year, but we bounced back.”

Katelyn Connelly and Marie-Pier Huet picked up OU's first doubles win against Penn State. Connelly and Huet defeated Sarah Henderson and Michaela Stracar at the No. 3 spot, 8-3.

Ana-Maria Constantinescu and Teona Tsertsvadze, ranked No. 39 nationally, clinched the doubles point for OU. The Sooner duo topped PSU's Sarah Lotto and Lauren McCarthy at the No.1 position, 8-2.

OU's only doubles loss against the Nittany Lions came at the No. 2 position. Tara Eckel and Maria Kalashnikova were edged out by Petra Januskova and Maria Prishlyak in the tiebreaker game, 7-6 (5).

The Sooners have now won the doubles team point in every match this season and have won 13 of 15 doubles matches overall.

OU started strong in singles, winning all six matches in straight-sets. With Sunday's wins in singles OU has won 27 of 30 singles matches this season, winning 24 of those 27 in straight-sets.

“I thought we had a great start on every court in singles,” Mullins said. “Everyone in singles just keeps getting better. To get everyone through singles in straight sets is credited to the work these girls are doing.”

Constantinescu, ranked No. 56 nationally, claimed OU's first singles point at the No. 1 position, defeating Januskova, 6-4, 6-0, to bring the team score to 2-0.

Kalashnikova added another point for the Sooners after defeating Lotto at the No. 3 position, 6-3, 6-0, bringing the overall score to 3-0. Sunday marked the third time this season that Kalashnikova has given up three game points or fewer in a singles match.

Kristina Radan clinched the win for OU at the No. 5 spot, defeating PSU's Henderson, 6-1, 6-3. The win brought the team score to 4-0, guaranteeing OU's win over the Nittany Lions.

OU claimed the next two singles matches to lead PSU, 6-0, following wins from Eckel and Tsertsvadze. Eckel topped PSU's Stracar at the No. 6 spot, 6-4, 6-2, before Tsertsvadze beat McCarthy, 7-5, 6-1.

With one singles match left, Huet clinched the shutout for OU, defeating PSU's Prishlyak at the No. 2 spot, 6-2, 7-5, in the tiebreaking game.

The Sooners are now 2-0 all-time against the Nittany Lions. Oklahoma defeated Penn State on Feb. 20, 2009 on the road, 6-1, in the two programs' first meeting.

The Sooners will hit the road for the first time this season Wednesday, facing No. 32 Tulsa at 2 p.m.

Oklahoma 7, Penn State 0
Doubles
1. No. 39 Constantinescu/Tsertsvadze (OU) def. Lotto/McCarthy (PSU), 8-2
2. Januskova/Prishlyak (PSU) def. Eckel/Kalashnikova (OU), 7-6 (5)
3. Connelly/Huet (OU) def. Henderson/Stracar (PSU), 8-3

Singles
1. No. 56 Ana-Maria Constantinescu (OU) def. Petra Januskova (PSU), 6-4, 6-0
2. Marie-Pier Huet (OU) def. Maria Prishlyak (PSU), 6-2, 7-5
3. Maria Kalashnikova (OU) def. Sarah Lotto (PSU), 6-3, 6-0
4. Teona Tsertsvadze (OU) def. Lauren McCarthy (PSU), 7-5, 6-1
5. Kristina Radan (OU) def. Sarah Henderson (PSU), 6-1, 6-3
6. Tara Eckel (OU) def. Michaela Stracar (PSU), 6-4, 6-2

OU Remains Unbeaten, Claims Fourth Shutout

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OU Remains Unbeaten, Claims Fourth Shutout

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