Cowgirls Host Conference Foe Texas Friday

STILLWATER – The eighth-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team retuns home to the Greenwood Tennis Center this Friday to host the No. 30 Texas Longhorns in a Big 12 showdown. Admission to the match is free, and play is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.

Watch and Follow the Cowgirls
Fans can catch all home matches online at okstate.com/watchtennis. Live scoring is available on okstate.statbroadcast.com.

Notable Streaks and Trends
?The Cowgirls have spent 50 consecutive weeks in the ITA top 25. The last time OSU was outside the top 25 was March 18, 2014.
?The Cowgirls have won 20 or more matches in each of the last two seasons.
?Oklahoma State has won 15-straight regular season conference matches dating back to March 29, 2015, when the Cowgirls came up short, 4-3, at Texas Tech.
?Since 2012, OSU has made five-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. That streak is the second-longest in program history behind a 10-year streak that saw the Cowgirls earn NCAA Tournament berths from 1982-91.
?OSU has won 28-straight matches at the Greenwood Tennis Center, dating back to March of 2015.
?The Cowgirls were impressive during the fall, racking up a 65-16 (.802) overall singles record and a 28-14 (.667) overall mark in doubles.
?That success has continued this spring, as OSU opened the 2017 dual season with seven sweeps in its first 17 matches.

Last Time Out
The seventh-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team closed out its whirlwind road trip to Las Vegas on Monday, sweeping Washington State, 4-0, in a neutral site match at the Fertitta Tennis Complex. The win was the Cowgirls' (13-3, 1-0 Big 12) fifth straight and also marked the team's seventh sweep of the season.

No. 7 Oklahoma State 4, Washington State 0
March 13, 2017 | Fertitta Tennis Complex | Las Vegas, Nev.

Doubles | Order of finish: 1, 2
No. 1: No. 6 Babic/Tur Mari (OSU) def. Michalkova/Matejevic (WSU) 6-1
No. 2: No. 37 Bolsova/Blanco (OSU) def. Colic/Miksovska (WSU) 6-1
No. 3: No. 32 Adamovic/Lushkova (OSU) vs. Yusupova/Ates (WSU) 4-2, unf.

Singles | Order of finish: 6, 5, 2
No. 1: No. 76 Katarina Adamovic (OSU) vs. Guzal Yusupova (WSU) 6-3, 1-1, unf.
No. 2: No. 43 Aliona Bolsova (OSU) def. Barbora Michalkova (WSU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 3: No. 92 Vladica Babic (OSU) vs. Aneta Miksovska (WSU) 6-3, 3-0, unf.
No. 4: No. 68 Carla Tur Mari (OSU) vs. Victoria Matajevic (WSU) 6-2, 3-2, unf.
No. 5: Lena Ruppert (OSU) def. Melisa Ates (WSU) 6-1, 6-1
No. 6: Katarina Stresnakova (OSU) def. Lejla Colic (WSU) 6-0, 6-1

Dominating the Big 12
The Cowgirls have arisen as a force in the Big 12 Conference over the last several seasons. Since 2013, OSU has won 28 conference matches, which ranks second only to Baylor's 31.

The Cowgirls have made three of the last four Big 12 Championship matches, finally breaking through to win their first since 2003 last year with a 4-0 win over Texas Tech.

OSU has won 15-straight regular season conference matches, dating back to March of 2015. That mark ranks third among Power Five schools, behind North Carolina and Florida. A look:

School                                  Consecutive Conf. Wins
North Carolina (ACC)          31
Florida (SEC)                       18
Oklahoma State (Big 12)     15
Ohio State (Big Ten)            12

Home Court Advantage
Since it opened for the 2013-14 season, the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center has proven a tough place to play for Cowgirl opponents. After an undefeated 18-0 mark at home last year and a 6-0 home start this season, OSU has racked up a 43-2 overall record in the facility over the last four seasons. A look at the numbers:

Season                 OSU Record at GTC
2013-14                6-1
2014-15                13-1
2015-16                18-0
2016-17                6-0
Total                      43-2

Series Notes
?Friday will mark the 40th meeting in the series between the Longhorns and Cowgirls. Texas has taken 31 matches in the series.
?OSU is looking for its fifth-straight win over the Longhorns.
?The Cowgirls have taken the last two meetings between the two teams in Stillwater.
?Head coach Chris Young is 5-5 against Texas since coming to OSU.

EYEING THE LONGHORNS
               The 30th-ranked Longhorns enter this weekend's matchup with the Cowgirls holding a 6-4 overall record. Friday will be Texas' first conference match of the year.
               Texas is led by freshman Bianca Turati, who has racked up a 12-2 overall record thus far with a 6-2 mark in dual play while climbing to No. 26 in the ITA singles rankings.
               Petra Granic and Danielle Wagland lead the Longhorn charge in doubles, ranked No. 52 in the nation with a 2-2 record in the top doubles spot this year.
               Texas is led by first-year head coach Howard Joffe.

Super Seniors
The experienced Cowgirl roster includes three seniors this season, all of which have been major contributors to the growth of the OSU women's tennis program. Katarina Adamovic, Carla Tur Mari and Viktoriya Lushkova have combined for 245 singles wins, 260 doubles wins, three All-America honors and 10 All-Big 12 accolades while helping the Cowgirls to an 81-23 dual record.

Record Watch
?Viktoriya Lushkova's .810 career win percentage in singles ranks second all-time in program history. She is the first player since Kate Vasylyeva in 2003 to break onto that list.
?With 90 career singles wins, Viktoriya Lushkova is currently second on the Big 12 era career list, and only four wins away from sealing the No. 1 spot. She is fifth on the doubles Big 12 era list with 85 career wins.
?With 85 career doubles wins, Katarina Adamovic sits in fifth on the program Big 12 era career doubles wins list. With a .798 win percentage in doubles, Adamovic's doubles win percentage leads the Big 12 era list in that category as well, along with Vladica Babic.
?With 90 career doubles wins, Carla Tur Mari is currently the program's active leader in that category, while also sitting in third in the Big 12 era program record book. She is also fourth in singles with 88 career wins.

Young Guns
While the 2016-17 Cowgirl roster boasts plenty of experience, the young talent that head Coach Chris Young has brought on board over the last couple of seasons is evident as well, especially with a pair of newcomers.

Freshman Aliona Bolsova (Spain) joined the Cowgirls this fall after finishing one of the most decorated junior careers of any signee in Cowgirl history, having been been ranked as high as No. 4 in the ITF world junior rankings with a number of impressive wins under her belt.

Freshman Lena Ruppert (Germany) has been ranked as high as the No. 70 player in Germany, while recording five wins against players in the top-50. Ruppert came to OSU this fall rated as one of the top-10 players under the age of 18.

Impressively, the Cowgirl underclassmen (Bolsova, Ruppert, and sophomores Sofia Blanco and Katarina Stresnakova) have combined for a 70-20 record (.778 win pct.) so far this season.

Cowgirls in the ITA Rankings
The Oklahoma State women's tennis team is slotted at No. 8 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings this week. The Cowgirls also have six players ranked in singles and four ranked doubles teams.

The Cowgirls are also slotted at No. 5 in the USTA Top 25.

Senior Viktoriya Lushkova remains in the top 10 of the ITA singles rankings this week, coming in at No. 10. Lushkova has turned in a spectacular senior season thus far, compiling a 17-7 overall mark in singles to reach 90 wins for her career and counting.

Freshman Aliona Bolsova made an 11-point rise up the poll to No. 43 this week after splitting matches at the No. 3 singles spot last weekend. Bolsova has had an impressive opening to her collegiate career thus far, racking up a team-leading 18 wins on the year.

Seniors Carla Tur Mari and Katarina Adamovic come in at Nos. 68 and 76, respectively, while junior Vladica Babic finds herself at No. 92 and sophomore Sofia Blanco is ranked No. 122.

In doubles, four Cowgirl tandems are ranked in the top 40, led by Babic and Tur Mari at No. 6. Lushkova and Adamovic moved up two spots to No. 32 after picking up a pair of wins last weekend to move to 10-2 on the season. Bolsova and Blanco are slotted at No. 37 this week.

Adamovic Named Big 12 Player of the Week
Oklahoma State women's tennis senior Katarina Adamovic has been named Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week, the league announced Tuesday afternoon.

Adamovic led the OSU tennis team to a 3-0 weekend, helping lift the Cowgirls to wins over No. 10 Baylor, No. 45 UNLV and Washington State.

Adamovic was instrumental in the Cowgirls' dominant 4-1 win over the Bears, defeating No. 110 Rhiann Newborn, 6-3, 6-3, on the second singles court to put OSU up, 3-0.

Once again, the senior was victorious against UNLV, dropping Aiwen Zhu, 7-6, 6-3. That win followed up a 6-1 doubles victory over the Rebel tandem of Paola Artiga and Anna Bogoslavets with teammate Viktoriya Lushkova, which helped OSU pick up its 13th doubles point of the season.

No Trouble in Doubles
Over the last two seasons, Oklahoma State has made a name for itself around the country for its strong doubles play. This year, the Cowgirls have won 14 of 16 doubles points. Over the last two seasons total, OSU has taken 47 of 50 doubles points.

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Players Mentioned

Katarina Adamovic

Vladica Babic

Sofia Blanco

Aliona Bolsova

Viktoriya Lushkova

Lena Ruppert

Katarina Stresnakova

Carla Tur Mari

Oklahoma State University Athletics