Photo by: Brian Ray
Golden Hurricane Duo Tops Miami to Advance to NCAA Doubles Round of 16
5/21/2019 1:44:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Box Score (.pdf) | Season Stats (.pdf)
ORLANDO, Fla. – Tulsa women's No. 14-ranked doubles tandem of Martina Okalova and Vera Ploner claimed a 7-6(6), 6-2 victory over Miami's No. 13 duo of Daevenia Achong and Danielle Roldan at the NCAA Doubles Championship to advance to the round of 16 on Tuesday at the USTA National Campus.
After winning the top-15 matchup, the Tulsa pair will square off with Kansas' No. 6-ranked tandem of Nina Khmelnitckaia/Janet Koch on Wednesday in the second round at 3 p.m. CT in Orlando. The Jayhawk pair escaped with a 7-6(3) victory in the duos' meeting earlier in February.
With a win in Wednesday's match, Ploner and Okalova will become Tulsa's second and third All-Americans in program history, as Anousjka van Exel was a two-time winner in 1998 and 1999.
The first set played out to be a back-and-forth affair, as each side won a break early to even the frame at 2-all. Both Tulsa and Miami held serve to force a tiebreaker at 6-all before the late TU surge. The Golden Hurricane duo rallied back from down 5-2 in the tiebreaker to secure the first set, 7-6(6).
In set two, both duos held strong on serve to even the stanza up at 2-2. The Tulsa tandem held serve before breaking to push ahead 4-2 in the second frame. With the advantage and momentum, Okalova and Ploner surged forward to claim the straight-set, 7-6(6), 6-2, victory in the round of 32.
With the victory, the Tulsa tandem is now 28-6 on the year and 9-3 against nationally-ranked opponents. The win over Miami marks the highest-ranked win for the Golden Hurricane pair this season.
Tulsa has made two other NCAA Doubles Championship appearances in school history, coming in 1999 (DeSpain/van Exel) and 2013 (Vickers/Enrique). Both pairs claimed first-round wins and reached the round of 16 before being eliminated.
For all Tulsa women's tennis news and information, visit TulsaHurricane.com. Be sure to follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
NCAA Doubles Championship
Round of 32
#14 Martina Okalova/Vera Ploner (Tulsa) def. #13 Daevenia Achong/Daniella Roldan (Miami) 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
#ForOurCity
ORLANDO, Fla. – Tulsa women's No. 14-ranked doubles tandem of Martina Okalova and Vera Ploner claimed a 7-6(6), 6-2 victory over Miami's No. 13 duo of Daevenia Achong and Danielle Roldan at the NCAA Doubles Championship to advance to the round of 16 on Tuesday at the USTA National Campus.
After winning the top-15 matchup, the Tulsa pair will square off with Kansas' No. 6-ranked tandem of Nina Khmelnitckaia/Janet Koch on Wednesday in the second round at 3 p.m. CT in Orlando. The Jayhawk pair escaped with a 7-6(3) victory in the duos' meeting earlier in February.
With a win in Wednesday's match, Ploner and Okalova will become Tulsa's second and third All-Americans in program history, as Anousjka van Exel was a two-time winner in 1998 and 1999.
The first set played out to be a back-and-forth affair, as each side won a break early to even the frame at 2-all. Both Tulsa and Miami held serve to force a tiebreaker at 6-all before the late TU surge. The Golden Hurricane duo rallied back from down 5-2 in the tiebreaker to secure the first set, 7-6(6).
In set two, both duos held strong on serve to even the stanza up at 2-2. The Tulsa tandem held serve before breaking to push ahead 4-2 in the second frame. With the advantage and momentum, Okalova and Ploner surged forward to claim the straight-set, 7-6(6), 6-2, victory in the round of 32.
With the victory, the Tulsa tandem is now 28-6 on the year and 9-3 against nationally-ranked opponents. The win over Miami marks the highest-ranked win for the Golden Hurricane pair this season.
Tulsa has made two other NCAA Doubles Championship appearances in school history, coming in 1999 (DeSpain/van Exel) and 2013 (Vickers/Enrique). Both pairs claimed first-round wins and reached the round of 16 before being eliminated.
For all Tulsa women's tennis news and information, visit TulsaHurricane.com. Be sure to follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
NCAA Doubles Championship
Round of 32
#14 Martina Okalova/Vera Ploner (Tulsa) def. #13 Daevenia Achong/Daniella Roldan (Miami) 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
#ForOurCity
Players Mentioned
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