Cowgirls Fall to No. 5 Stanford

Friday, February 17

Lake Nona, FL

5 P.M.

Oklahoma State University

Stanford

Photo by: Bruce Waterfield

February 17, 2017 | Cowgirl Tennis

LAKE NONA, Fla. – The sixth-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team fell, 4-1, to No. 5 Stanford on Friday night in a top-10 matchup at the United States Tennis Association National Campus.

The Cowgirls (8-2) started off strong, taking the doubles point and four first sets, but defending NCAA champion Stanford proved victorious with wins at the one, three, four and five singles spots.

OSU earned its ninth doubles point of the season Friday, getting wins at the one and three positions to take the early lead. Stanford struck first, as Sofia Blanco and Aliona Bolsova fell to the Cardinal duo of Caroline Doyle and Melissa Lord, 6-4, at No. 2. The Cowgirls would respond quickly with seniors Katarina Adamovic and Viktoriya Lushkova dropping Emma Higuchi and Carolina Lampl, 7-6(4).

The Cowgirls' top doubles team of Vladica Babic and Carla Tur Mari clinched the point in a tiebreaker. Trailing, 5-3, in the tiebreak, the tandem won four straight points to storm back and take the match, 7-6(5).

Stanford took the lead over the Cowgirls with a couple of straight-set wins to jump ahead, 2-1. Tur Mari fell, 6-3, 6-2, to No. 59 Emily Arbuthnott, before Bolsova was handed her first dual loss of the season in a 6-4, 7-6(3) match against No. 75 Caroline Lampl.

After Cowgirl junior Vladica Babic took the first set, 6-2, over No. 13 Melissa Lord, the Cardinal would bounce back to eventually take the match, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, and increase the deficit to 3-1.

The match would be clinched in favor of the Cardinal on court one. Viktoriya Lushkova took the first set, 6-3, and appeared to be headed toward the win as she opened the second with a 3-0 lead; however, the senior appeared to suffer an injury midway through the set that would open up the door for Davidson to make a comeback. Davidson would bounce back to take the second, 6-4, and eventually the third to lock up the match for Stanford.

The Cowgirls will travel to Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday for a match against the top-ranked Florida Gators at 4 p.m. ET.

No. 5 Stanford 4, No. 6 Oklahoma State 1
Feb. 17, 2017 | USTA National Campus | Lake Nona Fla.

Doubles | Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
No. 1: No. 5 Babic/Tur Mari (OSU) def. Davidson/Arbuthnott (STAN) 7-6(5)
No. 2: No. 36 Doyle/Lord (STAN) def. Blanco/Bolsova (STAN) 6-4
No. 3: Adamovic/Lushkova (OSU) def. Higuchi/Lampl (STAN) 7-6(4)

Singles | Order of finish: 5, 4, 3, 1
No. 1: Taylor Davidson (STAN) def. No. 10 Viktoriya Lushkova (OSU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 2: No. 56 Katarina Adamovic (OSU) vs. No. 38 Caroline Doyle (STAN) 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-3
No. 3: No. 13 Melissa Lord (STAN) def. No. 33 Vladica Babic (OSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
No. 4: No. 75 Caroline Lampl (STAN) def. Aliona Bolsova, 6-4, 7-6(3)
No. 5: No. 59 Emily Arbuthnott (STAN) def. No. 42 Carla Tur Mari, 6-3, 6-0
No. 6: No. 86 Lena Ruppert (OSU) vs. Emma Higuchi (STAN) 6-4, 6-7(5), 1-4