Sooners Pick Up Four Wins on Day Two of OU Invite

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma women's tennis team finished day two of the OU Invite, completing two rounds of singles play with the Sooners picking up four wins.

Sophomore Christie Brigante earned the Sooners' second win of the day over Tulsa's Yelena Nemchen. Brigante dropped the first set, but battled back to win the second and third sets to take the match, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“In that first set, (Brigante) wasn't getting points started,” head coach Dave Mullins said. “She lost so many returns, so many quick points, so she couldn't really gain any momentum. Once she had the first points started, even in the first set, she was winning the majority of those points. She settled down on her returns and then once she got the point started, she was the better player. That little switch helped her gain the momentum she needed.”

Mimi Fotopoulos showed promise again today, taking Tulsa's Rongrong Leenabanchong to a long two sets before falling 6-2, 7-5.

Fotopoulos and Brigante will start Sunday in the semifinals of the Crimson doubles draw. The pair won their first round match against North Texas's Anastasiya Shestakova and Agustina Valenzuela, 6-3, on Friday. The quarterfinal win of 6-2 over Wichita State's Rebecca Pedrazzi and Aleksandra Trifunovic put them in line to face Caroline Wegner and Seda Arantekin of TCU in the semifinals.

“I was really happy with their doubles yesterday and their decision-making and energy as a team,” Mullins said. “They've picked up where they left off at the end of last semester. We had four freshmen last year and they're not really taught doubles in juniors, so we had a lot of teaching to do. But they know what's required now, so win or lose, I expect to see some pretty good things.”

Along with Fotopoulos/Brigante, sophomores Malene Stripp and Brooke Winthrow will compete in the semifinals of the Red doubles draw. After a bye in the first round, the tandem beat Abby Stevens and Tanaporn Thongsing of Wichita State, 6-0, in quarterfinals.

Despite a quarterfinal loss on Friday, sophomore Simran Sethi and senior Emma Devine, will take on Gabriela Talaba and Sabrina Federici of Texas Tech in the quarterfinal consolation bracket.

The semifinal round of doubles begins Sunday at 9 a.m., followed by the championship round of doubles and singles.