Sooners Fall to No. 12 Oklahoma State

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NORMAN – The 31^st-ranked Oklahoma women's tennis team lost for just the second time this season Sunday to the 12^th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowgirls 4-0 inside the Gregg Wadley Indoor Tennis Pavilion. The Sooners' record stands at 10-2 on the season. The match did not count toward Big 12 Conference play.

“Overall, honestly, I'm pretty happy really against a team like this,” said OU head coach David Mullins. “We were looking for four chances at points and we gave ourselves a chance at four.”

In doubles, the Sooners fell behind early at No. 2 and No. 3, ultimately leading to conceding the point. At No. 2, the freshmen duo of Christiana Brigante and Lily Miyazaki fell behind 5-0 to Vladica Babic and Katarina Adamovic before losing 6-1. After falling behind 3-0 at No. 3, junior Zita Engbroks and freshman Simran Sethi rattled off four straight points to take a 4-3 lead before conceding three in a row to lose 6-4.

At No. 1 doubles , sophomore Morgan Chumney and Malene Stripp had the 6^th-ranked doubles team of Viktoriya Lushkova and Kelsey Laurente in a bind with a 5-5 tie and 40-0 advantage in position to take a 6-5 lead. The match was halted once the doubles point was conceded.

“They were serving big,” said Mullins. “Malene and Morgan, their serves are their weapons. When they are making a high percentage of first serves they are going to be really hard to beat, I don't care who they are playing.”

In singles, OU again fell victim to slow starts and fell early at No. 6 and No. 3. Brigante lost to Maria Alvarez 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6, while Sethi lost to 77^th-ranked Katarina Adamovic 6-1, 6-3. Brigante's overall singles record now stands at 8-3, while Sethi's overall record stands at 5-3.

The Sooners looked like they were going to make a late push with three second set leads and Engbroks in a tiebreak at No. 4. After losing her first set 6-1 and falling behind in the second set 5-3, Engbroks forced the tiebreak and had a 4-0 tiebreak lead before falling to 105^th-ranked Babic 6-1, 7-6 (7-5). The loss snapped Engbroks' six-match winning streak and her singles record now stands at 9-2 overall.

“Zita has turned into one of the best competitors out there,” said Mullins. “Even in a match like that where her opponent has hardly lost a set all year, she never stops believing and she is always competing as hard as she can.”

At No. 1 singles, Miyazaki had a 5-4 first set lead and 3-2 second set lead against 12^th-ranked Viktoriya Lushkova before the match ended at 5-7, 3-3. At No. 2 singles, Chumney went back and forth with 80^th-ranked Kelsey Laurente before losing the first set 7-5. She had a 5-2 second set lead when the match ended.

Senior Abbi Melrose had the best singles showing of the day. She led Carla Tur Mari 6-4, 4-2 when the match ended.

Results

Doubles

1. #12 Viktoriya Lushkova/Kelsey Laurente (OSU) vs. Morgan Chumney/Malene Stripp (OUWT) no result

2. Katarina Adamovic/Vladica Babic (OSU) def. Lily Miyazaki/Christiana Brigante (OUWT) 6-1

3. Carla Tur Mari/Maria Alvarez (OSU) def. Zita Engbroks/Simran Sethi (OUWT) 6-4

ORDER OF FINISH: (2,3)

Singles

1. Lily Miyazaki (OUWT) vs. #12 Viktoriya Lushkova (OSU) 5-7, 3-3, unfinished

2. Morgan Chumney (OUWT) vs. #80 Kelsey Laurente (OSU) 5-7, 5-2, unfinished

3. #77 Katarina Adamovic (OSU) def. Simran Sethi (OUWT) 6-1, 6-3

4. #105 Vladica Babic (OSU) def. Zita Engbroks (OUWT) 6-1, 7-6

5. Abbi Melrose (OUWT) vs. Carla Tur Mari (OSU) 6-4, 4-2, unfinished

6. Maria Alvarez (OSU) def. Christiana Brigante (OUWT) 6-3, 6-2

ORDER OF FINISH: (6, 3, 4*)

Up Next

The Sooners continue their five-match home stand Sunday, March 8 against the 37^th-ranked New Mexico Lobos.

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Players Mentioned

Christiana Brigante

Zita Engbroks

Abbi Melrose

Lily Miyazaki

Malene Stripp

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