Tulsa
Oklahoma State University
Tulsa Upsets No. 9 Oklahoma State, 4-2, to Advance to the Sweet 16
5/12/2018 8:16:00 PM | Women's Tennis
STILLWATER, Okla. – Martina Okalova's win at the No. 2 position gave the No. 24 Tulsa (23-5) women's tennis team a 4-2 victory over the No. 8 national seed Oklahoma State (20-5) Saturday afternoon, thus sending the Golden Hurricane to the school's first-ever appearance in the the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Okalova clinched the victory for the Hurricane by defeating the nation's No. 39 ranked player, Megan McCray, in three sets.
Tulsa improved to 23-5 on the season, while Oklahoma State concludes their season with a 20-5 record.
"It hasn't set in yet," Head Coach Dean Orford on what it feels like to make history. "We don't want to get to up because we still have a lot of work to go. Yes, we made history here, but we aren't done yet."
Rouxanne Janse van Rensburg and Tamara Kupkova battled Megan McCray and Shir Hornung in the No. 3 doubles position. Kupkova and van Rensburg jumped out to an early 3-1 lead. The Tulsa duo never looked back and won the match, 6-2, and improved to 12-3 in dual matches.
The Cowgirls' tandem of Marina Guinart and Katarina Stresnakova bested the TU pair of Okalova and Vera Ploner, 6-3, in the No. 2 position.
Ksenia Laskutova and Martha Matoula faced the No. 14 ranked Vladica Babic and Sofia Blanco in the No. 1 spot. Laskutova and Matoula jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but Babic and Blanco managed to tie the match at 4-4. Matoula and Laskutova were unfazed and broke the service of Babic and Blanco, to take a 5-4 lead. The Hurricane pair held serve to win the match, 6-4, and clinched the all-important doubles point. Laskutova and Matoula are now 18-6 in dual matches, but more importantly they gave TU the 1-0 lead as the match headed into singles play.
In the No. 6 singles match, Shura Poppe swept Sami Court in the first set, 6-0. Poppe stormed away with another 6-0 performance in the second set. Poppe is now 11-1 in dual matches and extended the Golden Hurricane lead to 2-0.
Stresnakova defeated Kupkova, 6-1 and 6-2, in the No. 3 match and pulled Oklahoma State within one, 2-1.
The No. 123 ranked Guinart tied the match up at 2-2, when she knocked off Matoula, 7-6 (7-3) and 6-1, in the No. 4 match.
Ploner broke Blanco's serve in the sixth game to tie the opening set of the No. 5 singles match, 3-3. Ploner broke Blanco again and went on to win the set, 6-4. The two battled each other in the second set, which needed a tiebreaker. Blanco jumped out to an early lead, but Ploner was resilient and clawed her way to a 7-5 victory in the tiebreaker. Ploner won the match, 6-4 and 7-6 (7-5), and improved to 14-6 in dual singles matches. Ploner put Tulsa back up, 3-2.
The No. 39 ranked McCray won the first set of the No. 2 singles match against No. 112 Okalova, 7-5. Okalova regrouped and fought her way to a 6-4 victory in the second, to force a third and final set. Okalova used her momentum from the second and broke McCray's service three times to win the set 6-0. Okalova improved to 14-4 in dual singles play and she clinched the match for the Hurricane, 4-2.
The Hurricane returns to action on Thursday, May 17, at 4 p.m. as its takes on the No. 21 Florida State Seminoles, winners over the national No. 9 seed Florida. The match will take place on the campus of Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
#24 Tulsa 4, #9 Oklahoma State 2
Singles competition
1. #20 Vladica Babic (OKST) vs. #80 Ksenia Laskutova (TU) 4-6, 6-2, 3-2, unfinished
2. #112 Martina Okalova (TU) def. #39 Megan McCray (OKST) 5-7, 6-4, 6-0
3. Katarina Stresnakova (OKST) def. Tamara Kupkova (TU) 6-1, 6-2
4. #123 Marina Guinart (OKST) def. Martha Matoula (TU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1
5. Vera Ploner (TU) def. Sofia Blanco (OKST) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Shura Poppe (TU) def. Sami Court (OKST) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Ksenia Laskutova/Martha Matoula (TU) def. #14 Vladica Babic/Sofia Blanco (OKST) 6-4
2. Marina Guinart/Katarina Stresnakova (OKST) def. Vera Ploner/Martina Okalova (TU) 6-3
3. Rouxanne Janse van Rensburg/Tamara Kupkova (TU) def. Megan McCray/Shir Hornung (OKST) 6-2
Tulsa 23-5; National ranking #24
Oklahoma State 20-5; National ranking #9
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,3,4,5,2)
T-3:55 A-250
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
6,3,4,5,2
Players Mentioned
