Cowgirls Bounce Back to Defeat No. 24 UCF

Friday, April 5

Stillwater, OK

5:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

UCF

Image Taken at the Oklahoma State Cowgirls vs Texas Longhorns Tennis Match, Friday, March 31, 2019, Greenwood Tennis Center, Stillwater, OK. Caulen Spencer/OSU Athletics

April 05, 2019 | Cowgirl Tennis

Box Score

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State's women's tennis team took out the 24th-ranked Knights of UCF on Friday evening at the Greenwood Tennis Center, 5-2, in a tight contest after dropping the doubles point.

Doubles tandem Bunyawi Thamchaiwat and Tamara Arnold lost only their third match of the season to UCF's Natalia Serrano and Domenika Turkovic. Senior duo Marina Guinart and Katie Stresnakova dropped their doubles bout as well.

The 12th-ranked Cowgirls recovered well in singles taking five of the six, with three requiring tiebreaker sets. Catherine Gulihur returned to singles play with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over Nandini Sharma to get things started.

"I think we needed a match like this. I feel this match is so good for us because it shows us what is possible when we compete the right way," coach Chris Young said. "I think we need to be pushed and challenged, and we need to be put in situations where the only way out is to raise our level and play our best tennis. I think the best thing about our response in singles is just the way we competed."

Guinart lost a tough match to Marie Mattel, 6-3, 6-3, marking only the third singles loss for the senior this season. Lisa Marie Rioux dominated No. 86 Ksenia Kuznetsova, collecting the 6-3, 6-1 upset to put the Cowgirls ahead for the first time in the dual.

Sofia Blanco helped build on that lead with a comeback first-set win over Natalia Serrano (UCF). She closed out the match with a strong second set, taking the match, 7-6(6), 6-3.

In a pair of extremely competitive closing matches, OSU came out on the winning side. Senior Stresnakova came back after losing the first set, 4-6, to No. 44 Valeryia Zeleva, to top the Knight, 7-6(10), 6-2, in the final sets.

"I was hurting, and it is really tough to come out of it because it is very easy to just stay being negative," Stresnakova said. "I thought if I am going to have to be taken off the court in a wheelchair, I don't care. I just want to fight and win for the girls. Today was not for me it was for them because I feel like I owe them."

Thamchaiwat finished things out for the Cowgirls in another close match. She won her first set before dropping the second in a tiebreak. In the third set, the freshman topped Rebeka Stolmar, 6-2.

The Cowgirls return to the Greenwood Tennis Center at 1:00 p.m. Sunday when Bedlam rival Oklahoma comes to Stillwater for senior day.

No. 12 OSU 5, No. 24 UCF 2
April 5, 2019 | Greenwood Tennis Center | Stillwater

Order of finish: Singles (6, 4, 2, 5, 1, 3)
1. No. 38 Katarina Stresnakova (OSU) def. No. 44 Valeryia Zeleva 4-6, 7-6(10), 6-2
2. Lisa Marie Rioux (OSU) def. No. 86 Ksenia Kuznetsova (UCF) 6-3, 6-1
3. No. 117 Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (OSU) def. Rebeka Stolmar (UCF) 7-6, 6-7(5), 6-2
4. Marie Mattel (UCF) def. No. 102 Marina Guinart (OSU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Sofia Blanco (OSU) def. Natalia Serrano (UCF) 7-6(6), 6-3
6. Catherine Gulihur (OSU) def. Nandini Sharma (UCF) 6-1, 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2)
1. No. 21 Blanco/Gulihur (OSU) vs. No. 20 Zeleva/Kuznetsova (UCF) 5-2, uf
2. Mattel/Stolmar (UCF) def. Guinart/Stresnakova (OSU) 6-2
3. Serrano/Turkovic (UCF) def. Arnold/Thamchaiwat (OSU) 6-1