Cowgirls Win Six on Day One of ITA Grass Court Invitational

Friday, September 16

Newport, RI

All Day

Oklahoma State University

Hall of Fame Grass Court Invitational

Photo by: OSU Athletics

Cowgirls Win Six on Day One of ITA Grass Court Invitational

September 16, 2016 | Cowgirl Tennis

NEWPORT, R.I. – The Oklahoma State women's tennis team opened up the fall season on Friday, going 6-1 overall with five singles wins and a doubles victory on the first day of competition at the International Collegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame Grass Court Invitational.

The Cowgirls went a perfect 5-0 in singles action Friday. Senior Carla Tur Mari grabbed the first win of the 2016-17 season with a 6-1, 6-3 handling of Harvard's Irene Lu.

Junior Vladica Babic, who appeared at a career-high No. 25 in last week's ITA singles rankings, recorded a thriller of a victory over 62nd-ranked Denise Starr of California in three sets, 6-7, 6-3, 10-7. Babic gave up her first set and fell behind midway through the tiebreaker, but ultimately came up with the triumph to move to 9-6 over ranked foes in her career.

Two Cowgirls picked up the first wins of their collegiate careers. Sofia Blanco started her weekend off strong, posting a 6-3, 6-3 tally over Nika Besker of Harvard. After Lena Ruppert dropped her first set to California's Maria Smith, the freshman bounced back to win the second set and the third-set-deciding super tiebreaker to finish Jansen, 5-7, 6-3, 10-4.

Sophomore Katarina Stresnakova finished off a perfect day in singles for OSU, defeating Luca Fabian of Georgia Tech, 6-4, 6-3.

The Cowgirls' lone loss of the day came in doubles, as Tur Mari and Blanco came up short to Rasheeda McAdoo and Kenya Jones of Georgia Tech. Stresnakova and Ruppert, however, snagged a 8-7 win by way of 7-5 tiebreaker over Georgia Tech's Nadia Gizdova and Nami Otsuka.

Play at the International Tennis Hall of Fame is set to continue Saturday morning at 9 a.m. CT. Fans can stream the matches online at FloTennis.com.

Singles Results
Blanco (OSU) def. Besker (HAR) 6-3, 6-3
Ruppert (OSU) def. Smith (CAL) 5-7, 6-3, 10-4
Tur Mari (OSU) def. Lu (HAR) 6-1, 6-3
No. 25 Babic (OSU) def. No. 62 Starr (CAL) 6-7, 6-3, 10-7
Stresnakova (OSU) def. Fabian (GT) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles Results
McAdoo/Jones (GT) def. Tur Mari/Blanco (OSU) 8-4
Stresnakova/Ruppert (OSU) def. Gizdova/Otsuka 8-7 (5)