Two Sooners Set for Sunday Quarterfinals

MINNEAPOLIS – Oklahoma women's tennis picked up crucial wins on Saturday to send two players into the quarterfinals on the third day of the ITA Central Regional tournament.

In doubles, the Sooners' No. 1 tandem of junior Lily Miyazaki and freshman Julie Byrne grabbed two wins on the day to advance to Sunday morning's quarterfinal match.

To begin the day, the duo topped Missouri's Mackenzy Middlebrooks and Cassidy Spearman, 8-7 (1). Miyazaki/Byrne moved on to defeat Oklahoma State's Lena Ruppert and Katarina Stresnakova, 8-6. The pair is set to face Janet Koch and Anastasia Rychagova of Kansas Sunday at 9 a.m. CT in the quarterfinals.

“Julie [Byrne] and Lily [Miyazaki] learned a lot from a tight first doubles match,” OU head coach Audra Cohen said. “They followed it up with a much more complete match.

Freshman Serena Nash and junior Simran Sethi provided OU with its first doubles victory of the day in a tight 8-7 (3) decision over Missouri's Tate Schroeder and Claire Sullivan. The duo was eliminated from the tournament after losing their next match, 8-2, to Oklahoma State's Sofia Blanco and Aliona Bolsova in the round of 16.

No. 72 Miyazaki continues to represent the Sooners in the main singles draw and will compete in the quarterfinals Sunday. After dropping the opening set, Miyazaki rallied to knock off knock off Kansas' Koch, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3, Saturday afternoon.

“In singles, Lily's [Miyazaki] opponent was tricky and played an uncomfortable style,” Cohen said. “Once she figured things out, Lily was able to weather the storm. She showed that she has an impressive amount of variety and tenacity.”

Oklahoma begins Sunday with quarterfinal doubles matches. For updated brackets, click here.