No. 34 Women's Tennis Survives in Lubbock, 4-3

March 19, 2010

LUBBOCK, Texas— The 34th-ranked Oklahoma women's tennis team survived its first conference match of the season, defeating Texas Tech, 4-3, on the road Friday.

“We had to work extremely hard for this win today,” OU head coach David Mullins said. “I am very relieved that we got through it.”

Oklahoma (10-1, 1-0 Big 12) fell behind, 3-1, early after losing the doubles point and two singles points. The Sooners then picked up the final three singles matches to clinch their tenth win this season.

“We didn't compete well at a couple spots today,” Mullins said. “We will have to rectify that very quickly if we want to be competitive in the Big 12 this season.”

The Sooners' 10-1 mark is now tied for the best start in school history after 11 matches. It is only the second time in the program's 35 seasons that an OU squad has gone 10-1, the Sooners also started 10-1 in 1996.

Tara Eckel and Marie-Pier Huet played as a pair Friday for the first time this season after winning the Big 12 No. 2 doubles position championship in 2009. The duo picked up OU's only doubles win on the day, defeating Elizabeth Ullathorne and Caroline Stark at the No. 2 spot, 8-4.

The Red Raiders picked up the next two doubles matches at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions to claim the early 1-0 lead. Friday marked only the second time that OU lost the doubles point in a dual match this season.

In singles, 90th-ranked Ana-Maria Constantinescu tied the dual at 1-1 after quickly beating Texas Tech's Sandra Dynka at the No. 1 position, 6-1, 6-3.

With the win, Constantinescu extended her conference match win-streak to 15. The last time Constantinescu lost a Big 12 singles match was against Colorado on April 18, 2008.

The Red Raiders claimed the next two singles matches at the No. 5 and No. 4 positions to lead the match 3-1.

Maria Kalashnikova then won a hard-fought second set to claim OU's next singles point. Kalashnikova defeated Texas Tech's Elizabeth Ullathorne at the No. 3 spot, 6-3, 7-6.

Marie-Pier Huet won OU's next singles point to tie the overall score at 3-3. Huet split the first two sets with Tech's Natalie Leitch at the No. 2 position but eventually won the match, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

OU's Kristina Radan won the final dual point at the No. 6 singles position to clinch the Sooners' 4-3 victory. Radan defeated Lorena Aviles of Texas Tech in the second-set tiebreaker, 6-3, 7-6.

The Sooners will get one day of rest before facing No. 1 Baylor in Waco, Texas, on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Baylor jumped to the No. 1 spot after beating No. 2 UCLA, No. 4 North Carolina and No. 13 USC in a four-day span.

For live results during Sunday's match click here.

No. 34 Oklahoma 4, Texas Tech 3
Doubles
1. Garland/Leitch (TTU) def. Constantinescu/Kalashnikova (OU), 8-6
2. Eckel/Huet (OU) def. Ullathorne/Starck (TTU), 8-4
3. Tsertsvadze/Connelly (OU) Dynka/Peana (TTU)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles
1. No. 90 Ana-Maria Constantinescu (OU) def. Sandra Dynka (TTU), 6-1, 6-3
2. Marie-Pier Huet (OU) def. Natalie Leitch (TTU), 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
3. Maria Kalashnikova (OU) def. Elizabeth Ullathorne (TTU), 6-3, 7-6
4. Kelsy Garland (TTU) def. Teona Tsertsvadze (OU), 6-3, 6-1
5. Caroline Stark (TTU) def. Tara Eckel (OU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Kristina Radan (OU) def. Lorena Aviles (TTU), 6-3, 7-6
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 4, 3, 2, 6*

No. 34 Women's Tennis Survives in Lubbock, 4-3

Next Event

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 34 Women's Tennis Survives in Lubbock, 4-3

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos

Sponsors