No. 37 Women's Tennis Crushes the Cyclones, 6-1

April 25, 2010

NORMAN, Okla. – The 37th-ranked Oklahoma women's tennis team closed its regular season Sunday with a convincing 6-1 win over Iowa State.

Oklahoma (17-5, 7-4 Big 12) became only the eighth squad in program history to win at least 17 matches in the regular season with the victory over the Cyclones. The win also marked the ninth-time this season that OU has beaten its opponent by at least five points.

“It's the end of the regular season now, and I couldn't be happier with it,” OU head coach David Mullins said. “We are 17-5, I don't think anyone in the country expected us to be 17-5 and to finish fifth in the conference after finishing 10th last season. It's a great feeling and we are excited to start preparing for the conference championships.”

The Sooners swept all three doubles matches for the eighth-time this season against Iowa State. OU has now won the doubles point in 15 of 22 matches this season (.682) and has won a combined 43 of 65 doubles matches (.662).

“It was a pretty comfortable win today,” Mullins said. “We haven't had one of those in awhile so it was definitely nice to take some of the pressure off and to stay in control during the entire match.”

Kristina Radan and Marie-Pier Huet cruised to OU's first doubles win on the day with a shutout of ISU's Alyssa Palen and Liza Wischer at the No. 3 position, 8-0.

OU's 28th-ranked tandem, Ana-Maria Constantinescu and Teona Tsertsvadze, clinched the doubles point for the Sooners. The OU duo defeated ISU's Tessa Lang and Maria Macedo at the No. 1 spot, 8-4.

Tara Eckel and Maria Kalashnikova completed the Sooners' doubles sweep after a dominating performance in the tiebreaker game at the No. 2 position. Eckel and Kalashnikova beat Erin Karonis and Jenna Langhorst, 9-8 (1).

The Sooners started strong in singles, winning the first set at all six positions. The Sooners have won a combined 83 of 125 singles matches this season (.664) and have won 68 of those 83 in straight-sets (.819).

Radan won OU's first singles point after quickly handling ISU's Chartier at the No. 5 spot, 6-3, 6-3. Tsertsvadze took OU's next point, bringing the Sooners' lead to 3-0, after defeating Iowa State's Tessa Lang, 6-2, 6-3, at the No. 3 position.

Eckel clinched the win for OU, claiming the Sooners' fourth dual point. Eckel beat ISU's Liza Wischer, 7-5, 6-0, after a dominating performance in the second-set.

Kalashnikova added OU's fifth dual point on the day, defeating Jenna Langhorst at the No. 4 position, 6-1, 6-1. The win marked the fifth time this season that Kalashnikova has given up three games or fewer in a singles match.

The dual's two remaining points at the top of the lineup were both decided in tiebreaker sets. Constantinescu, ranked No. 103 nationally in singles, edged ISU's Erin Karonis at the No. 1 position in the super-tiebreaker, 6-4, 6-4, 1-0 (7).

Iowa State's Macedo won the tiebreaker set to earn the Cyclones' only dual point againt the Sooners. Macedo topped OU's Huet, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, at the No. 2 slot.

“I'm disappointed that Marie-Pier (Huet) couldn't win that one but Macedo is a very good player,” Mullins said. “It would have been nice to get a 7-0 win heading into the Big 12 Championships but I'll definitely take a 6-1.”

The Sooners will open post-season play on Thursday, April 29 at the 2010 Big 12 Championship in Austin, Texas. Championship pairings and match times will be announced by the Big 12 Conference on Monday.

No. 37 Oklahoma 6, Iowa State 1
Doubles
1. No. 28 Constantinescu/Tsertsvadze (OU) def. Lang/Macedo (ISU), 8-4
2. Eckel/Kalashnikova (OU) def. Karonis/Langhorst (ISU), 9-8 (1)
3. Huet/Radan (OU) def. Palen/Wischer (ISU), 8-0
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles
1. No. 103 Ana-Maria Constantinescu (OU) def. Erin Karonis (ISU), 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (7)
2. Maria Macedo (ISU) def. Marie-Pier Huet (OU), 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
3. Teona Tsertsvadze (OU) def. Tessa Lang (ISU), 6-2, 6-3
4. Maria Kalashnikova (OU) def. Jenna Langhorst (ISU), 6-1, 6-1
5. Kristina Radan (OU) def. Marie-Christine Chartier (ISU), 6-3, 6-3
6. Tara Eckel (OU) def. Liza Wischer (ISU), 7-5, 6-0
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 6*, 4, 1, 2

No. 37 Women's Tennis Crushes the Cyclones, 6-1

Next Event

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 37 Women's Tennis Crushes the Cyclones, 6-1

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos

Sponsors