Women's Tennis No. 16 in ITA Preseason Rankings, Picked sixth in SEC Poll

NORMAN – The Oklahoma women's tennis team enters the 2025 season at No. 16 in the ITA preseason rankings and sixth in the Southeastern Conference's preseason coaches poll.

After coming off a 2024 season that saw them earn their 15th NCAA tournament appearance and fifth under head coach Audra Cohen, the Sooners will hit the court boasting its third consecutive top-20 ITA preseason ranking, the association announced Monday.

Oklahoma returns six players from last season's squad including All-Big 12 honorees Julia Garcia Ruiz, Roisin Gilheany, Chloé Noël, Ava Catanzarite and Emma Staker along with Alina Shcherbinina. Cohen and the Sooners welcomed freshmen Emma Ghirardato, Cara Mester, Gloriana Nahum and Salakthip Ounmuang to the squad for the 2024 fall season.

OU also checked in at No. 6 in the preseason SEC poll, the conference announced Wednesday. The Sooners earn their placements after a successful 2024 season that ended in the NCAA Second Round. The team collected 19 wins, three of them against top-25 teams, earned a top-three seed at the Big 12 Championship for the third straight season, and saw five athletes featured in the ITA rankings which marked the most individuals to receive rankings simultaneously since Cohen's arrival in 2017.

The Sooners open their inaugural SEC season on Friday, Jan. 17, hosting a doubleheader against Wichita State and Wyoming.

For updates, follow @OU_WTennis on Twitter or like Oklahoma Women's Tennis on Facebook.

SEC PRESEASON POLL

1.      Georgia
2.      Texas
3.      Texas A&M
4.      Florida
5.      Auburn
6.      Oklahoma
7.      Vanderbilt
8.      LSU
9.      Tennessee
10.  South Carolina
11.  Ole Miss
12.  Alabama
13.  Arkansas
14.  Kentucky
15.  Mississippi State
16.  Missouri