WTEN Preview: OU & OSU
4/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas - Finishing up the regular season with two straight weekends on the road, the No. 33 TCU women's tennis team will head to the state of Oklahoma to face off with Oklahoma and No. 15 Oklahoma State on April 15 and April 17, respectively.
The Horned Frogs (11-4, 3-2 Big 12) will start with a showdown with the Sooners (7-10, 2-2 Big 12) at the Headington Tennis Center in Norman, Okla., on Friday at 6 p.m. TCU will then head to Stillwater, Okla., to face the Cowgirls (17-4, 5-0 Big 12) on Sunday at 1 p.m., at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center.
Sunday's match against Oklahoma State will be broadcast live FOX Sports Network 2 as part of the College MatchDay Series presented by the USTA and will be the first time TCU has appeared on television in program history.
TCU Notables
After starting Big 12 play 3-0 for the third time in the last four seasons, TCU dropped its final two home matches of the season against No. 51 Baylor (4-2) and No. 35 Texas (4-3). Before the two losses, TCU had won nine straight matches dating back to February 25 and upset No. 11 Texas Tech in Lubbock to open conference action.
The Frogs have one individual ranking with Seda Arantekin and Caroline Wegner checking in at No. 27 in the Oracle/ITA doubles poll. The pair has won its last seven of the last eight matches and have 19 wins thus far in the season and two victories over a ranked foe. The duo gained their biggest win of the season last weekend with an upset of the No. 11 pair from Texas.
In dual match singles action, Olaya Garrido-Rivas continues to hold onto a winning streak as the junior has picked up wins in her last eight straight matches. Garrido-Rivas is now 9-3 in dual matches and a perfect 7-0 at the No. 4 position. Alexis Pereira continues to be an anchor at the No. 6 slot for TCU with the sophomore winning eight of her last nine matches.
Scouting the Sooners
Oklahoma has lost its last three matches after starting 2-0 in conference play with 4-0 sweeps of Iowa State and West Virginia.
The match on Friday will serve as senior day for Emma Devine and Zita Engbroks. Devine has picked up 32 wins in singles in her four years as a Sooner, while Engbroks has been a double specialist with 39 wins during her career.
Scouting the Cowgirls
Oklahoma State is the only team left who is undefeated in Big 12 action as the Cowgirls have started 5-0 in conference play. So far this season, Oklahoma State has defeated Oklahoma (5-2), West Virginia (4-0), Iowa State (4-0), Texas (4-2) and Baylor (4-1). The Cowgirls have won eight of their last nine matches with their last loss coming to USC on March 16.
OSU has three ranked singles players and three ranked doubles teams. Vladica Babic sits at No. 44 in the Oracle/ITA singles poll, while Katarina Adamovic checks in at No. 47. The duo also pair up with a No. 54 doubles ranking.
Victoriya Lushkova rounds out the singles rankings at No. 65 and also checks in the doubles poll with Carla Tur Mari at No. 50. Kelsey Laurente and Maria Alvarez are the final ranked duo for the Cowgirls as the pair are the No. 36 ranked doubles tandem in the country.
All-Time Series Records
Friday's match marks the 35th time in program history that TCU and Oklahoma have faced off with the Frogs holding the advantage in the series with a 20-14 record. The last four matches between the teams has been split with TCU taking two matches and the Sooners winning two matches. This will be the 15th time the teams have faced off in Norman, Okla., with TCU holding a 9-5 record. The last time the Frogs took a victory at the Headington Tennis Center was in 2012 with a 4-3 win over the Sooners.
TCU and Oklahoma State will be facing off for the 19th time in program history on Sunday with the Frogs holding the advantage in the all-time series record with a 10-8 mark. The first meeting between the teams took place in 1978 with TCU winning the first five matches. Since joining the Big 12 in 2012, TCU is 1-3 against the Cowboys with Oklahoma State taking the last three straight matches. Sunday's match marks the seventh time the teams have faced off in Stillwater with the series tied at 3-3. The last time TCU won a match in Stillwater was in 2013 (5-2) in the first match between the teams as conference foes.
Live Updates
In-match updates can be found by following TCU women's tennis on twitter (@TCUWomensTennis).
Players Mentioned
