Tulsa Conquers Temple in Singles Play for 4-1 Regular Season Finale Win

Sunday, April 14

Tulsa, Okla.

Noon

Tulsa

Temple

Tulsa Conquers Temple in Singles Play for 4-1 Regular Season Finale Win

4/14/2024 5:07:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score (PDF)Season Results as of 4.14.24

TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa women's tennis team capped off the regular season Sunday with their third consecutive 4-1 win, taking down the Temple Owls in four singles wins on the sunny outdoor courts of the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Come Wednesday, April 17, the Golden Hurricane will enter the American Athletic Conference Championship on the SMU campus in Dallas with an even 11-11 record, while the Owls will start at 9-7. The tournament bracket will be announced Monday afternoon by the league following the conclusion of the Florida Atlantic-Western Kentucky match at 12:30 p.m.

Doubles play between Tulsa and Temple was a back-and-forth affair as two of the three matches went to tiebreaker sets at six games all. After Temple claimed the No. 2 spot 6-0, junior duo Maria Berlanga Bandera and Lily Hutchings won their tiebreaker, 8-6, over No. 47 Maiko Uchijima and Samantha Nanere atop the lineup. The Tulsa pair initially led 5-2 before Uchijima and Nanere were able to fight back and force the tiebreaker set. In the tiebreak, Berlanga and Hutchings had a 6-2 head start as the Owl pair clawed their way back to a 6-6 tie. From there the Tulsa duo scored two more points to lock up the top spot for Tulsa and move to 15-8 overall together.

The doubles point came down to the third position as freshmen Erin McKenzie and Tayla Wilmot went the distance with Jessie Zheng and Evie Wei. In the tiebreak set, the Tulsa tandem led 7-6 before Temple's pair rattled off three points to take the tiebreaker 9-7 and seal away the 1-0 advantage for Temple over Tulsa.

The first to strike in singles play was junior Ana Naranjo Martinez in a dominant 6-1, 6-0 decision in the No. 4 position over Nanere. Naranjo, now 16-11 on the year, owns Tulsa's best singles win streak at four in a row.

Giving Tulsa the lead at 2-1 was Hutchings at line three. From 2-1 in the first set onward, Hutchings never trailed to give the Hurricane its second singles victory in a 6-1, 6-2 final result over Uchijima.

Fifth year senior Oleksandra Nahurska got in on the action when she took down Sena Takebe in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4, in the No. 2 slot. Nahurska won nine straight games before Takebe finally got on the board in the second set. As Nahurska closed out her match, Tulsa moved the dial to 3-1 over Temple, and the Lugunsk, Ukraine, native improved to 17-10 and 9-2 in dual-match action.

It was Wilmot in the No. 6 position who clinched Tulsa's 4-1 team victory and ended the dual with a two-set win over Marianthi Christoforidou. Wilmot took advantage of 3-0 starts to each of her set wins to bring home a 6-2, 6-3 finish to seal the Hurricane's win over the Owls.

The AAC tournament will run from Wednesday through Sunday, April 17-21, at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex on the SMU campus. TU's seeding and first-round or quarterfinal opponent will be announced by the conference following the conclusion of league action Monday afternoon.

Singles
1. Maria Berlanga (TLS) vs. Thamara Kawarantani (TEM) 2-6, 6-1, 3-0, unfinished
2. Oleksandra Nahurska (TLS) def. Sena Takebe (TEM) 6-0, 6-4
3. Lily Hutchings (TLS) def. Maiko Uchijima (TEM) 6-1, 6-2
4. Ana Naranjo Martinez (TLS) def. Samantha Nanere (TEM) 6-1, 6-0
5. Erin McKenzie (TLS) vs. Vineetha Mummadi (TEM) 6-3, 5-3, unfinished
6. Tayla Wilmot (TLS) def. M. Christoforidou (TEM) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles
1. Maria Berlanga/Lily Hutchings (TLS) def. #47 Maiko Uchijima/Samantha Nanere (TEM) 7-6 (8-6)
2. M. Christoforidou/Thamara Kawarantani (TEM) def. Oleksandra Nahurska/Ana Naranjo Martinez (TLS) 6-0
3. Jessie Zheng/Evie Wei (TEM) def. Tayla Wilmot/Erin McKenzie (TLS) 7-6 (9-7)

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