NCAA Play Begins Saturday in College Station

NORMAN – The Oklahoma women's tennis team makes the program's 15th NCAA tournament appearance on Saturday as the Sooners open with Arizona at the College Station Regional.

First serve against the Wildcats from the Mitchell Tennis Center is set for 10 a.m. CT and can be kept up via live stats and live stream.

The other side of the bracket features host Texas A&M vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The teams will face off at 1 p.m., with the winners of each match facing off on Sunday afternoon with a trip to Super Regionals on the line.

REGULAR SEASON RECAP

The Sooners enter the NCAA Tournament at 18-6 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 made it to the semifinals of the conference tournament after sweeping Houston and Baylor in the first round and quarterfinals.

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 regular 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.

NCAA HISTORY

The Sooners have made 14 NCAA tournament appearances in program history: 1996, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Oklahoma owns a 13-14 all-time record in NCAA tournament matches.

OU squads have advanced past the first round eight times in program history: 1996, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2023. The Sooners' deepest NCAA run came in 2022, when the team finished as National Runners-Up following a 4-1 loss in the national championship match against Texas.

OU VS. THE FIELD

The Sooners have met Arizona twice in program history, most recently in 2005 at a neutral site in Fresno, California. OU is 1-1 all-time against the Wildcats.

OU is 1-3 against Texas A&M. The last meeting between the teams was in May 2022, when the Sooners took the Aggies to the wire and escaped with a 4-3 win in the national quarterfinals to send OU to their first Final Four in program history. To clinch the match on court six, then-freshman Emma Staker lost her first set 3-6 but battled hard to claim a 6-3 second-set victory. Staker carried her momentum into the third set and prevailed 6-4 before she was mobbed by teammates.

The Sooners have never met Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

WHERE THEY RANK

The Sooners, No. 18 in the ITA team rankings, currently have four players in the singles rankings. Leading the pack is No. 37 Julia Garcia Ruiz, followed by No. 40 Dana Guzman, No. 66 Florencia Urrutia and No. 121 Alina Shcherbinina.

In doubles, OU is represented by No. 4 Guzman and Shcherbinina, followed by No. 26 Guzman and Roisin Gilheany, and rounded out by No. 36 Garcia Ruiz and Zdena Safarova.

Arizona (17-12, 4-6 Pac 12) is also represented in the polls, with No. 105 Reece Carter in singles as well as No. 38 Carter and Brandelyn Fulgenzi in doubles.

Representing Texas A&M (22-7, 12-1 SEC) in singles is No. 1 Mary Stoiana, No. 26 Nicole Khirin, No. 45 Mia Kupres and No. 88 Carson Branstine. In doubles, the Aggies are led by No. 7 Stoiana and Kupres.

MATCH INFO

First serve against Arizona is set for 10 a.m. CT on Saturday. Should the Sooners advance, they will play in Sunday's second round match at 1 p.m. CT.

Live stats and video will be available for all matches during the regional.