Sooners Set to Open Big 12 Championship Wednesday

NORMAN – The Oklahoma women's tennis team is set to take on No. 14 seed Houston in the first round of the 2024 Big 12 Tennis Championship on Wednesday, April 17, hosted by Oklahoma State University.

The Sooners enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed. First serve from the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center is set for 3 p.m. CT.

In their last showing against the Cougars on March 17, the doubles duos of Dana Guzman and Roisin Gilheany, followed by Chloe Noel and Ava Catanzarite earned the first point for the Sooners. In singles play, Julia Garcia Ruiz and Noel collected two more points for Oklahoma, while Catanzarite clinched the 4-0 win for the Sooners.

Should the Sooners advance, they will face the winner between No. 6 seed Baylor and No. 11 West Virginia on Thursday at 3 p.m. CT in the quarterfinals.

SOONER STORYLINES

REGULAR SEASON RECAP

• The Sooners completed the regular season at 16-5 overall and 11-2 against the Big 12. OU earned a top-three seed at the Big 12 Championship for the third straight season, and will look to claim their first tournament title in program history.

• OU received its highest ITA team ranking of the season on Jan. 17 when the Sooners checked in at No. 13.

• At least four players have been ranked in the ITA singles release since Feb. 7, and up to five Sooners have been included this season which marks the most individuals to receive rankings simultaneously since head coach Audra Cohen's arrival in 2017. Guzman and Alina Shcherbinina rose to No. 2 nationally in doubles to become the highest-ranked doubles team in program history.

• OU closed out the season on a six-match winning streak, going undefeated during the month of April. The team's signature wins of the season came in one weekend: a 4-3 victory over No. 12 San Diego on Feb. 23 and a 4-2 upset of No. 5 North Carolina State on Feb. 25.

• Of the team's five losses in the regular season, four of those were 4-3 barn burners and all with top-20 teams: against No. 14 Ohio State in Norman on Jan. 19 and No. 4 Michigan on Jan. 21; No. 19 California at home on Jan. 28; and at No. 6 Texas on March 3.

WHERE THEY RANK

• The Sooners have ranked in the top-25 in the ITA poll for seven-straight weeks.

• Four individuals and three doubles teams are ranked in the most recent ITA release.

• In doubles, Guzman and Shcherbinina are No. 3. The duo became Oklahoma's first ITA Women's Doubles All-American Champions during the fall season and have appeared in just five matches together in the spring, accumulating a 3-2 dual record at the No. 1 spot. Leading OU in doubles wins with a 10-2 record is No. 19 Guzman and Roisin Gilheany, followed by No. 51 Garcia Ruiz and Zdena Safarova.

• Sophomore Julia Garcia Ruiz, ranked No. 26, has been a dominant force at five different positions and holds a 17-1 record with eight wins over ranked opponents.

• Guzman, a four-year starter, currently sits at No. 40 nationally and has primarily moved around the top two courts. The Peru native will enter the postseason with a career singles record of 78-27, while her doubles record stands at 86-25. She currently sits in the top-five in program history for both singles and doubles career win percentage.

• No. 59 Florencia Urrutia is 7-5 on the year with a 5-3 mark on court four.

• Shcherbinina rounds out the Sooner contingent, ranked No. 104 nationally with an even 6-6 record.

TOURNAMENT INFO

The 2024 Big 12 Women's Tennis Championship will be held on Oklahoma State's campus, the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center. Live stats will be available throughout the tournament snd all matches will be live streamed on ESPN+.

Tickets for the tournament can be purchased for $5.00 a day at the ticket trailer located at the east entrance for the facility an hour prior to the first match of the day. Additional information can be found here.