Tulsa Falls 4-3 in Four-Hour Thriller to Iowa at Red Blue Invite

Friday, February 20

Tuscon, Ariz.

10:00 a.m.

Tulsa

Iowa

Tulsa Falls 4-3 in Four-Hour Thriller to Iowa at Red Blue Invite

2/20/2026 5:36:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

TUSCON, Ariz. – Tulsa pushed it to the brink Friday morning at the Tucson Racquet Club, but Iowa Hawkeyes (5-4) women's tennis escaped with a 4-3 win over the Golden Hurricane (4-7) in a four-hour battle, including a rain delay, that came down to the final match on court four.

The doubles point slipped away by the narrowest of margins. After falling 6-4 at both No. 2 and No. 3, Tulsa was locked in a tight 4-3 contest at No. 1 when the point was clinched. From there, the Golden Hurricane had work to do.

Singles opened with authority as Coral Valle cruised 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 to put Tulsa on the board. Lilitha Ndungane followed with a gritty 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 5, and Isabella Basson flipped momentum at No. 2 after dropping the first set, rallying 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to give Tulsa a 3-2 lead.

But Iowa refused to fold. A straight-sets win at No. 1 evened the match. At No. 3, a first-set tiebreak went Iowa's way, and at No. 4, Alice Baba battled through a three-set thriller. After taking the opening set 6-3, she pushed the second to a 7-5 tiebreak and forced a deciding set that hung in the balance until the closing games. Iowa ultimately edged it 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to clinch the match.

Tulsa will return to the courts at Tucson Racquet Club tomorrow to match up against No. 11 Arizona State and Grand Canyon to conclude the Red Blue Invite.

Results
Doubles:

Daianne Hayashida and Mia Mack (IOWA) vs. Maria Santos and Carolina Alonso (TUL) 4-3 UF
Tereza Dejnozkova and Emma Tothova (IOWA) def. Tayla Wilmot and Coral Valle (TUL) 6-4
Pia Kranholdt and Sally Xu (IOWA) def. Erin McKenzie and Isabella Basson (TUL) 6-4