Top Two Tulsa Singles Players Score in 5-2 Loss at Ole Miss

Friday, January 26

Oxford, Miss.

1:00 p.m.

Tulsa

Ole Miss

Photo by: Bill Powell

Top Two Tulsa Singles Players Score in 5-2 Loss at Ole Miss

1/26/2024 5:24:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score (PDF)

OXFORD, Miss. — The Tulsa women's tennis team (5-1) began the day looking for their sixth straight win to open the season but fell short in a 5-2 decision to Ole Miss (1-0). Putting Tulsa on the board in the final two matches to finish were Maria Berlanga Bandera and Oleksandra Nahurska in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles slots, respectfully.

Berlanga also grabbed a ranked doubles win with partner Lily Hutchings. After Ole Miss clinched the doubles point with 6-3 wins in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, Berlanga and Hutchings battled to a 7-6 finish with a 7-2 tiebreaker over the nation's 45^th-ranked duo of Briana Crowley and Ava Hrastar. It's their first ranked win of the season and second all-time together as a doubles team.

In singles play, Tulsa's bottom four positions struggled in straight-set losses to their Ole Miss counterparts. The dual match was clinched for Ole Miss at 4-0 in the No. 4 position when the Rebels' Rachel Krzyzak felled Ana Naranjo Martinez 6-2, 6-4.

Ole Miss extended its lead to 5-0 with a win at Singles No. 5. All that was left to play were the top two singles positions. Berlanga was the first to step for the Hurricane at the peak of the lineup. After trailing 3-2 in the first set, she won four of the next five games to take set one 6-4. Set two featured four lead changes. Berlanga forced a tiebreaker set at 6-6 and came out victorious 7-2 to seal the match at 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) to put TU on the board.

In the longest-lasting match of the day, Nahurska came back down one set to win a tightly contested battle at Singles No. 2. In the first set, she led by no more than two game points until the Rebels' Kareisova took the final three games to win 6-4. Nahurska retaliated in the second set when she took control at 3-2 and cruised to a 6-4 decision. As the last match of the day tied at one set all, the players engaged in a 10-point tiebreak set in which Nahurska erased a 7-4 deficit to win 10-8 to survive her match 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8) to seal the dual match final score at 5-2.

Tulsa remains on the road for a matchup with fellow American Athletic Conference member Memphis (1-1) on Sunday, Jan. 28, at noon.

Singles
1. Maria Berlanga Bandera (TLS) def. Ava Hrastar (OM) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
2. #125 Oleksandra Nahurska (TLS) def. Ludmila Kareisova (OM) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8)
3. Briana Crowley (OM) def. Lily Hutchings (TLS) 6-3, 6-4
4. Rachel Krzyzak (OM) def. Ana Naranjo Martinez (TLS) 6-2, 6-4
5. Reka Zadori (OM) def. Myroslava Zelenchuk (TLS) 7-5, 6-3
6. Andrea Nova (OM) def. Tayla Wilmot (TLS) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
1. Maria Berlanga Bandera/Lily Hutchings (TLS) def. #45 Briana Crowley/Ava Hrastar (OM) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Anaelle Leclercq/Ludmila Kareisova (OM) def. Saniya Singh/Myroslava Zelenchuk (TLS) 6-3
3. Kelsey Mize/Andrea Nova (OM) def. Ana Naranjo Martinez/Tayla Wilmot (TLS) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,6,4,5,1,2)