Women's Tennis Releases Fall Schedule

NORMAN, Okla. – University of Oklahoma Head Women's Tennis Coach Audra Cohen and Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Joe Castiglione announced the Sooners' fall schedule on Friday.

The Sooners kick off the fall season at the NC State Fall Invitational in Raleigh, N.C., Sept. 23-25. The next week, the Sooners will once again host the OU Invitational, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, at the Headington Family Tennis Center.

Cohen, who is in her first year with the Sooners, is ready to begin the fall season with her team.

"I am most looking forward to our first competition at NC State," Cohen said. "I haven't seen any of the players compete before outside of the practice court, so I am looking forward to learning about them as players and people.”

The Sooners' lost two players from last year's roster -- Emma Devine, who was 12-6 on the season in singles, along with Zita Engbroks. OU welcomed the freshmen trio of Julie Byrne, Serena Nash and Ann Selim to its roster prior to the start of the fall semester.

"I am excited about this freshman class," Cohen said. "Each of them adds value and strength to our roster in different ways and they have embraced their teammates and the overall leadership of the program very well."

After competing in their home tournament, the Sooners will send junior Lily Miyazaki to Pacific Palisades, Calif. for the Rivera/ITA All-American Championships, Oct. 1-9. The 2015 Co-Big 12 Freshman of the Year is 27-12 at the No. 1 singles position in her two-year career at OU.

From there, the Sooners will travel to the USTA/ITA Central Regional Championship in Minneapolis, Minn. Always a big focus in the fall, the Sooners finished with a 5-4 record in singles and went 2-2 in doubles play at the regional event last season. The singles and doubles champions of the tournament earn an automatic bid to the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

The Sooners will wrap up their fall schedule, Nov. 4-6 at the Florida State Fall Tournament in Tallahassee, Fla.

Cohen expects big things from this year's squad.

"I expect this team to compete fearlessly for every point, on every court and to use each player's individual strengths collectively to create success," she said.