No. 6 Sooners Set for ITA National Indoors in Illinois

NORMAN – As the 2026 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Team Indoor Championships opens Friday, the second-seeded Oklahoma women's tennis team (7-0) is set to face seventh-seeded Texas (2-1) at 12 p.m. CT at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill.

The Sooners are making their fourth all-time appearance at the event and are a one-time runner-up, finishing second in 2022. Oklahoma owns a 6-4 all-time record at National Team Indoors and has reached the quarterfinals in each of its previous three trips, including a semifinal appearance last season.

All main-draw matches will stream on the ITA YouTube channel. A PlaySight live stream and live scoring will also be available for every match.

SCOUTING TEXAS

Texas enters ITA Indoors with a 2-1 record after wins over Iowa and Wisconsin and a loss to Pepperdine. The Longhorns return frequent contributors across the singles lineup, including All-SEC Second Team honoree Carmen Herea. Herea posted 14 dual-match singles wins last season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship in the fall.

Other double-digit singles winners returning for Texas include Eszter Meri and Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo. In doubles, Herea, Anazagasty-Pursoo and Salma Drugova each recorded at least 12 victories during the 2024-25 season.

Texas added five freshmen in the offseason: Anastasia Abbagnato (Palermo, Italy), Elizabeth Ionescu (York, Pa.), Kate Mansfield (London, England), Christasha McNeil (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) and Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (Paris, France). Ionescu is the reigning SEC Women's Tennis Freshman of the Week after going a combined 4-0 in singles and doubles to help Texas earn road wins over Iowa and Wisconsin.

In the ITA rankings, Texas features Herea at No. 2 and Abbagnato at No. 63 in singles, while the doubles team of Abbagnato and Anazagasty-Pursoo is ranked No. 34.

Oklahoma and Texas have met twice previously at ITA National Indoors, splitting the matchups. Texas earned a 4-2 win in the consolation round during the 2022-23 season, while OU claimed a 4-1 victory in the quarterfinals in 2021-22.

SOONERS IN THE RANKINGS

Oklahoma currently has two players ranked in ITA singles play, led by No. 12 Julia Garcia Ruiz and No. 123 Chloé Noël.

In doubles, OU is represented by the nation's top-ranked pairing of Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum. Garcia Ruiz and Oyinlomo Quadre check in at No. 40, while Nahum and Noël are ranked No. 56.

HOW WE GOT HERE

OU punched its ticket to the ITA National Indoor Championships with a 4-1 victory over No. 9 Stanford on Jan. 25 at Headington Family Tennis Center.

The Sooners claimed the doubles point behind wins on courts three and one. On court three, Laura Brunkel and Nahum earned a 6-2 result over Stanford's Sein Myoung and Emma Sun. Moments later, Gilheany and Evialina Laskevich secured the point with a 6-2 win against Caroline Driscoll and Monika Ekstrand. When play was halted on court two, Garcia Ruiz and Salakthip Ounmuang held a 5-2 lead.

Taking a 1-0 advantage into singles, Nahum extended the lead with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Sun on court six. At the No. 3 spot, Noël followed with a 7-5, 6-1 victory against No. 77 Driscoll to earn her first ranked win of the spring.

Stanford's lone point came on court one, as No. 67 Ekstrand defeated Laskevich, 6-3, 7-5. Needing one more point to clinch the berth, No. 24 Garcia Ruiz delivered on court two with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 18 Alyssa Ahn to send OU to National Indoors.

UP NEXT

If the Sooners advance past Texas, Oklahoma will play Saturday, Feb. 7, at 12 p.m. CT against the winner of the Texas A&M-Vanderbilt matchup. The losing teams from both first-round matches will compete Saturday in consolation matches.

North Carolina, Illinois, Duke and Ohio State make up the other four teams on OU's side of the 16-team bracket. Teams advancing through the first two rounds will travel to Evanston, Ill., for the semifinal and championship rounds next Monday and Tuesday.

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