Cowgirl Tennis Falls at Oklahoma
NORMAN, Okla. – The No. 59 Oklahoma State women’s tennis team fell to Bedlam-rival Oklahoma for the first time since 2005 Wednesday, as the Cowgirls dropped their match against the No. 43 Sooners, 4-3, at the Headington Family Tennis Center.
The Cowgirls lost three doubles matches to begin the day, giving the Sooners a 1-0 lead entering singles play.
Nataliya Shatkovskaya, playing at the No. 1 spot for only the second time in Big 12 competition this year, faced Oklahoma’s No. 88-ranked Ana-Maria Constantinescu in the first match finished, with Constantinescu coming out on top, 6-2, 6-4.
then picked up its first team point as Malika Rose knocked off Oklahoma’s Kristina Radan, 6-3, 6-4, to make the score 2-1, OU.
After the Cowgirls dropped the No. 4 singles match to go down, 3-1, would need to win all three remaining singles matches to pull off the upset.
Alisa Buslaieva and Sasha Belova both got straight-set wins at the No. 3 and 2 lines, respectively, to tie the match at 3-3, but Oklahoma’s Tara Eckel won a three-set battle over Alexandra Cristello at No. 6 singles to give the Sooners their first win in five Bedlam contests.
“Our girls continue to work hard and it’s disappointing that our improvement hasn’t translated into us winning these tight matches,” coach Chris Young said. “We will continue working and hope to have a good weekend in Kansas.”
Oklahoma State returns to action at 2 p.m. Friday as the Cowgirls take on Kansas in Lawrence, Kan.
No. 43 Oklahoma 4, No. 59 Oklahoma State 3
April 14, 2010 – Norman, Okla. – Headington Family Tennis Center
DOUBLES
No. 1 – #23 Ana-Maria Constantinescu/ Teona Tsertsvadze (OU) def. Nataliya Shatkovskaya/Sasha Buslaieva (), 8-7
No. 2 – Tara Eckel/Maria Kalashnikova (OU) def. Sasha Belova/Sarah Meghoufel (), 8-4
No. 3 – Katelyn Connelly/Marie-Pier Huet (OU) def. Malika Rose/Alexandra Cristello (), 8-3
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
SINGLES
No. 1 – #88 Ana-Maria Constantinescu (OU) def. Nataliya Shatkovskaya (), 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 – Sasha Belova () def. Marie-Pier Huet (OU), 7-6, 6-4
No. 3 – Alisa Buslaieva () def. Teona Tsertsvadze (OU), 7-6, 6-2
No. 4 – Maria Kalashnikova (OU) def. Sarah Meghoufel (), 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 – Malika Rose () def. Kristina Radan (OU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 – Tara Eckel (OU) def. Alex Cristello (), 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 4, 3, 2, 6*
Updated 04-15-2010
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