Cowgirls Cruise over ‘Roos to Advance to Regional Finals

Saturday, May 13

Stillwater, OK

12 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

UMKC

Photo by: Bruce Waterfield

Cowgirls Cruise over ‘Roos to Advance to Regional Finals

May 13, 2017 | Cowgirl Tennis

STILLWATER – The ninth-seeded Oklahoma State women's tennis team recorded its 14th sweep of the season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Greenwood Tennis Center, dropping UMKC, 4-0, to advance to Sunday's regional final.

The Cowgirls will face No. 19 Arkansas at 1 p.m. Sunday with a trip to the NCAA Championships on the line. OSU has advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last two seasons, including a national runner-up finish in 2016.

OSU made quick work of the Kangaroos, picking up the win in under an hour and a half to earn its fifth-straight NCAA first round win despite being without upperclassmen Katarina Adamovic and Vladica Babic in singles. On the way to the win, senior Viktoriya Lushkova set a Big 12 era program record for singles wins.

"What happened today was what you expect to see this time of year," head coach Chris Young said. "It's tournament time, and it's time for our girls to step up. I told the girls in the locker room that what we showed today was enough. It's enough for the rest of the tournament, in my opinion. It doesn't matter who we're playing. I thought that UMKC battled really well. I'm proud of their girls for the season they had. It was about our girls executing."

"The great thing today was that you got to see a lot of girls get some matches in the NCAA Tournament, which they might not have gotten to otherwise. It's nice to get those girls some action."

The Cowgirls (23-5) began their domination in doubles with a pair of convincing wins on courts one and two. Vladica Babic and Carla Tur Mari struck first, taking down Melinda Johnson and Yana Grechkina, 6-1, at No. 1. Katarina Stresnakova and Aliona Bolsova clinched the point for the Pokes with a 6-0 shutout victory over Mariam Kurasbediani and Thanushree Vale.

OSU carried its momentum into singles, quickly putting UMKC away with wins on the top three courts.

Aliona Bolsova had little trouble with Melinda Johnson on court two as she shut out the Kangaroo, 6-0, 6-0, to put the Cowgirls up, 2-0, and stretch her win streak to seven. The victory was the freshman's 29th of the season which ties her with Maria Alvarez (2015) for the third-most by a Cowgirl in the Big 12 era.

Viktoriya Lushkova became the outright program leader for singles wins in the Big 12 era Saturday, dropping Aliona Ladutska, 6-1, 6-1, in the top singles spot. The win was Lushkova's 95th of her career, surpassing Linda Faltynkova for the record.

Katarina Stresnakova remained perfect on the season, moving to 13-0 on the dual campaign with a 6-3, 6-1 drubbing of Mariam Kurasbediani on court three to seal the match.