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Tulsa to Host Kansas State, UT Arlington
2/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 8, 2012
TULSA, Okla. - The No. 20-ranked University of Tulsa women's tennis team will play host to No. 53 Kansas State and UT Arlington this weekend. The Golden Hurricane will face the Wildcats (2-4) at 3 p.m. Feb. 10, and Tulsa will take on the Mavericks (3-1) at 9 a.m. Feb. 12.
Both matches are part of doubleheaders with the TU men's team. K-State has two ranked singles players (No. 17 Petra Niedermayerova and No. 94 Karla Bonacic) and one ranked doubles team (No. 28 Petra Niedermayerova/Marketa Trousilova). UTA does not have any ranked players.
Tulsa coach Dean Orford owns a 5-1 record against K-State, and he is 1-0 against UTA.
LAST TIME OUT
Tulsa won a convincing match against rival Oklahoma 5-2 Feb. 4. The Golden Hurricane took the doubles point and won four of six singles matches against the No. 31-ranked Sooners. Sophomore Samantha Vickers won at the first position, and senior Anastasia Erofeeva picked up a three-set triumph from the second spot. Senior Ewa Szatkowska and junior Michelle Farley won their singles matches in straight sets.
EROFEEVA TIES SCHOOL RECORD FOR CAREER DOUBLES VICTORIES
Senior Anastasia Erofeeva won two of her three doubles matches at the Bulldog Invitational Jan. 20-22 to give her 91 career doubles victories. That mark ties former Tulsa great Alexandra Kichoutkin (2007-11) for first place in school history. Erofeeva also has 96 career singles victories, which is third in school history. Fellow senior Ewa Szatkowska has teamed with Erofeeva for 66 of those 91 victories, and Szatkowska has 77 career doubles victories of her own, good for sixth on the school's all-time charts. Her 74 singles wins are seventh-most in school history.
EROFEEVA EARNS FIRST CONFERENCE USA TENNIS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HONOR
Senior Anastasia Erofeeva was named the Conference USA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week Jan. 31. This was her first-career honor. She upset No. 40 Joelle Kissell of N.C. State 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. The win was her third-career victory over a ranked opponent and the first against a player inside the top 100. The senior was also leading No. 24 Natalie Pluskota of Tennessee 6-2, 4-4 before the match was halted in the second round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
VICKERS WINS FIRST-CAREER C-USA TENNIS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK LAUREL
Samantha Vickers was named the Conference USA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week Jan. 24. The laurel was the first for the sophomore, who opened the dual season with an unblemished 4-0 singles mark and a 3-0 doubles record. Vickers finished second in the overall singles standings at the Bulldog Invitational with 21 points. Vickers teamed with senior Bonny Davidson to open the year with a perfect 3-0 mark in doubles.
CHALLENGING SCHEDULE ON DOCKET FOR GOLDEN HURRICANE
The 2012 schedule will be a daunting one for the Tulsa women's tennis team. The Golden Hurricane will face 16 teams who received a preseason ranking (top 75). Nine of those schools are ranked inside the top 50 and four earned preseason rankings inside the top 30 (No. 18 Tennessee, No. 24 Arkansas, No. 25 Oklahoma and No. 30 Yale). TU posted a 12-3 mark against ranked foes in 2011.
TULSA LANDS AT NO. 20 IN LATEST NATIONAL RANKINGS
The University of Tulsa women's tennis team was slotted at No. 20 in the most recent Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings released Feb. 2. This is the second-highest rank in school history. The Golden Hurricane reached a mark of No. 19 last year. TU landed at No. 22 in the preseason rankings this year, which was the highest preseason rank in school history. Sophomore Samantha Vickers is the highest ranked singles player at No. 63 in the country, while senior Anastasia Erofeeva sits at a career-high rank of No. 78.
STREAKING AT HOME
Tulsa is currently riding a 27-match win streak at the friendly confines of Case Tennis Center. The streak began Feb. 21, 2010 with a 6-1 triumph over Kansas. The Golden Hurricane won its last 10 home matches in 2010, which included all three matches in the 2010 Conference USA Championship. Tulsa followed that up with an unblemished 14-0 mark at home in 2011. The last time TU fell at Case Tennis Center was Feb. 17, 2010, when the blue and gold dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to in-state rival Oklahoma. Coach Dean Orford has posted a ridiculous 88-11 (.888) home record during his six-plus seasons at the helm of the women's program.
ORFORD BREAKS TU ALL-TIME WINS MARK, WINS TWO COACH OF YEAR AWARDS
Tulsa coach Dean Orford broke the school record for career wins in his sixth season at the helm. He now has 132 career victories to just 39 losses for a school-record .772 win percentage. His record-breaking victory came Jan. 21 with a 7-0 victory over Mississippi State. He passed Paige McMurray (1998-05), who ended her career with a 104-65 mark. In 2011, Orford led TU to a school-record 26 wins and an .897 win percentage. He was named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year and the Conference USA Coach of the Year for his efforts on the record-breaking campaign. Orford has also been dominant at home during his career. He owns an 88-11 record at Case Tennis Center for a stellar .889 home winning percentage.
