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Kansas
Cowgirl Tennis Outlasts Kansas, 4-3
April 15, 2011 | Cowgirl Tennis
April 15, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma State women's tennis team edged out Kansas, 4-3, Saturday at The Greens Country Club in a match the lasted more than five hours. Sophomore Malika Rose provided the highlight of the day as she came back from a 4-1 third-set deficit in the last match finished to clinch the team win for the Cowgirls.
“Malika won five straight games in a really tough situation,” head coach Chris Young said. “I am really proud of the great season she's had. She always finds ways to win. She was down 4-1 when the next-to-last match finished and she knew it was all on her shoulders. We've lost our share of close matches this year and we've kept battling. We were the tougher team tonight.”
The match began with doubles play where the Cowgirls lost the first team point in heartbreaking fashion. OSU and KU split the first two matches finished as Rose and Kanyapat Narattana defeated Katerina Morozova and Dylan Windom, 8-3, at No. 1 and the Jayhawks picked up a 9-7 win at No. 3. The winner of the No. 2 match would decide the team point.
After a hard-fought match that saw four match points, Kansas' Erin Wilbert and Sara Lazarevic just edged out C.C. Sardinha and Sarah Meghoufel in a tiebreaker, 9-8(5), to pick up the first team point of the day.
“That was a close test for us that really put our back against the wall,” Young said. “That challenged the girls mentally to lose so closely and they had to get back up and prepare themselves for singles play.”
The Cowgirls answered as Sasha Belova and C.C. Sardinha won the first two singles matches completed at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, to give OSU a 2-1 lead.
The Jayhawks followed with a straight-set win at No. 5, but Sarah Meghoufel responded with a 6-1, 7-5 win at No. 6 to put the Cowgirls within one team point of clinching the match with courts 1 and 4 still underway.
KU's Katerina Morozova then won a long three-set battle at No. 1 over Nataliya Shatkovskaya to set up Rose for her late match heroics.
Rose, down 4-1 in the dual deciding set, stormed back for a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win and the Cowgirls' seventh victory of the season.
“I didn't really think about my match being the deciding match or anything like that,” Rose said. “Instead I focused on the game I was about to play at 4-1 down and fought for each point. After I won that game I felt a burst of confidence and played really well to come back and take the lead. It felt amazing to have come through for my teammates when they needed me most.”
Oklahoma State (7-13, 3-6 Big 12) resumes play Sunday at noon as they face Kansas State at the DeBois Tennis Complex in Stillwater. Admission is free and fans in attendance will be provided with free pizza and drinks while supplies last.
Oklahoma State 4, Kansas 3
April 15, 2011 | Oklahoma City, Okla. | The Greens Country Club
DOUBLES | Order of finish: 1,3,2
No. 1 – Malika Rose/Kanyapat Narattana (OSU) def. Katerina Morozova/Dylan Windom (KU) 8-3
No. 2 – Erin Wilbert/Sara Lazarevic (KU) def. C.C. Sardinha/Sarah Meghoufel (OSU) 9-8(5)
No. 3 – Monica Pezzotti/Paulina Los (KU) def. Sasha Belova/Leyla Simmons (OSU) 9-7
SINGLES | Order of finish: 2,3,5,6,1,4*
No. 1 – Katerina Morozova (KU) def. Nataliya Shatkovskaya (OSU) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
No. 2 – Sasha Belova (OSU) def. Monica Pezzotti (KU) 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 – C.C. Sardinha (OSU) def. Paulina Los (KU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 – Malika Rose (OSU) def. Erin Wilbert (KU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
No. 5 – Dylan Windom (KU) def. Kanyapat Narattana (OSU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 – Sarah Meghoufel (OSU) def. Victoria Khaneskaya (KU) 6-1, 7-5
Match Notes:
OSU – (7-13, 3-6 Big 12)
KU – (9-10, 3-6 Big 12)
Match Time – 5:10
Attendance – 70
Players Mentioned
