Oklahoma Ends Historic Run at ITA Indoor Championships as Runner Up
Oklahoma’s historic run at the ITA National Indoor Championship saw the Sooner women bring home some hardware.
Competing in the event for the first time, the No. 8-ranked Oklahoma women finished runner up, falling to the No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels 4-2 on Monday at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, WI.
In the Championship dual, the Sooners (11-1) started off by winning the doubles point over the Tar Heels (11-0), a strong point for the team weekend long.
OU’s No. 11-ranked doubles team of Ivana and Carmen Corley topped North Carolina’s No. 1-rated pair of Fiona Crawley and Elizabeth Scotty 6-3, and Oklahoma’s No. 43-rated team of Layne Sleeth and Alexandra Pisareva beat No. 21 Cameron Morra and Carson Tanguilig 6-2 to clinch the doubles point.
North Carolina turned the dual around in singles.
First at No. 2 singles, UNC’s No. 27 Elizabeth Scotty defeated Carmen Corley in straight sets, topping Corley 6-2, 6-1.
The Tar Heels then took a 2-1 lead when Crawley beat OU’s Anchisa Chanta 6-4, 6-4.
Ivana Corley then notched the first singles win of the afternoon for the Sooners, beating UNC’s Reilly Tran 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to pull Oklahoma level 2-2.
Pisareva was then unable to hold off Tanguilig, falling 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to put North Carolina within one point of winning its third straight ITA National Championship.
The decisive blow would come from No. 6 singles, as Anika Yarlagadda defeated Emma Staker 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to seal the title for the Tar Heels.
Despite falling short of winning the Championship, the run at the ITA Indoors was nothing short of historic for Oklahoma.
On Jan. 30, the Sooners downed then-No. 6-rated Duke to earn a trip to Wisconsin, which was the highest ranked victory in program history at the time.
En route to the final, OU also toppled No. 1 Texas and No. 5 Pepperdine, and the Sooners proved they belonged on the biggest stage in collegiate tennis.
“While this was a huge weekend for this program, it was not a surprise to our team,” OU head coach Audra Cohen said after the match. “We know our team has the tennis level and energy to take down the top teams.
“We will reflect on things we can do to improve and get back to work. There is a lot more to come from these Sooners.”
The Sooners will get back to work on Feb. 20, when they host No. 10 USC at the Headington Family Tennis Center. First serve between Oklahoma and the Trojans is scheduled for 12 p.m.
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