No. 31 Sooners Drop First Home Match of 2010

April 3, 2010

NORMAN, Okla.— The 31st-ranked Oklahoma women's tennis team dropped its first home match of the season Saturday, falling to No. 36 Texas, 6-1.

Oklahoma (13-3, 3-2 Big 12) fell behind early after narrowly losing the doubles point. OU fought back in singles after losing the first set in five of six matches, bringing three matches to tiebreaker sets.

“We definitely played some great tennis at some spots,” OU head coach David Mullins said. “At the end of the day Texas just had too much for us.

Texas (9-4, 5-1 Big 12) clinched the win after winning the tiebreaker at the No. 2 singles spot, dealing the Sooners their third loss of the season.

“I'm not too disappointed today,” Mullins said. “It played out how I expected. I expected a lot of close matches. I knew we would have to play our best tennis to give ourselves a chance.”

Despite the loss, OU is still off to one of its best seasons in program history. This season is only the sixth time in program history that an OU squad has gone 13-3 or better.

“If we can sustain this level in the next few weeks, I will feel pretty good about going forward.”

In doubles, Tara Eckel and Marie-Pier Huet lost their first match as a pair this season, Texas' Amanda Craddock and Krista Damico beat the OU duo, 8-3, at the No. 2 spot.

Maria Kalashnikova and Kristina Radan tied their match at the No. 3 spot, 6-6, but eventually fell to UT's Sarah Lancaster and Caroline Larsson, 8-6.

No. 29 Ana-Maria Constantinescu and Teona Tsertsvadze claimed OU's only doubles win on the day. The duo won the match, 9-8 (10), in OU's closest tiebreaker of the season (12-10).

The Longhorns claimed the first two singles points quickly at the No. 5 and No. 3 spots. UT's Sarah Lancaster defeated Radan at the No. 5 position, 6-1, 6-3, while 46th-ranked Krista Damico of Texas beat Tsertsvadze, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 3 spot.

Texas' 60th-ranked Vanja Corovic clinched the win for the Longhorns at the No. 2 spot, defeating Huet. Huet won the second set to force the tiebreaker, but eventually fell to Corovic, 6-2, 1-6, 6-0.

Kalashnikova won OU's only dual point on the day. Kalashnikova defeated UT's Caroline Larsson, 7-5, 6-3, at the No. 3 spot.

Texas' Maggie Mello claimed the next singles point for UT, defeating Eckel at the No. 6 spot, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

No. 93 Ana-Maria Constantinescu rallied to win the second set at the No. 1 position against UT's 28th-ranked Aeriel Ellis, but Ellis evntually won in the final set, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

The Sooners will get a seven-day break before hosting No. 39 Texas A&M in Norman on Saturday, April 10 at 11 a.m.

No. 36 Texas 6, No. 31 Oklahoma 1
Doubles
1. No. 29 Constantinescu/Tsertsvadze (OU) def. No. 47 Corovic/Ellis (UT), 9-8 (10)
2. Craddock/Damico (UT) def. Eckel/Huet (OU), 8-3
3. Lancaster/Larsson (UT) def. Kalashnikova/Radan (OU), 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles
1. No. 28 Aeriel Ellis (UT) def. No. 93 Ana-Maria Constantinescu (OU), 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
2. No. 60 Vanja Corovic (UT) def. Marie-Pier Huet (OU), 6-2, 1-6, 6-0
3. No. 46 Krista Damico (UT) def. Teona Tsertsvadze (OU), 6-3, 6-1
4. Maria Kalashnikova (OU) def. Caroline Larsson (UT), 7-5, 6-3
5. Sarah Lancaster (UT) def. Kristina Radan (OU), 6-1, 6-3
6. Maggie Mello (UT) def. Tara Eckel (OU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 2*, 4, 6, 1

No. 31 Sooners Drop First Home Match of 2010

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No. 31 Sooners Drop First Home Match of 2010

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