Cowgirl Tennis Secures Bedlam Win to Advance in NCAA Championship

The best in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State women’s tennis proved once again it has a special team under coach Chris Young. On Saturday, the No. 20 Cowgirls punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-2 win over No. 6 Oklahoma at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman.

The matchup didn’t look like it would go the Cowgirls’ way early. After losing the doubles point, OSU also lost the first singles point on Court 6 to fall down 2-0. However, Marcela Lopez’s loss would be the only singles loss of the afternoon for OSU.

Courts 2 and 3 saw the Cowgirls earn the first set, with Anastasiya Komar and Rose Marie Nijkamp each having strong starts. Nijkamp also secured a win in her second set to get OSU’s first point of the day.

Gracie Epps was the next Cowgirl to get in on the scoring, overcoming a first set loss ot win 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. After Epps’ win, the match looked to be getting further in control for the Cowgirls. Komar completed her match with a win before Melisa Ercan secured the win with a gritty 0-6, 7-5, 6-2 win.

OSU’s Bedlam victory marked the Cowgirls’ second in-state win in Norman. Before taking out the Sooners on Saturday, the Cowgirls began their weekend with a convincing win over Tulsa. Winning 4-0, the Cowgirls’ win over the Golden Hurricane was never in doubt.

After winning the doubles point against Tulsa, OSU’s Kylie Collins secured the team’s first singles point. Then, Komar and Nijkamp finished off the win with impressive victories to push OSU into the matchup against OU.

After earning an opportunity to make an NCAA Tournament run with a 19-7 record after falling in the Big 12 Championships in Waco. OSU had a rough start to its season and struggled to find any type of big success in nonconference matches.

However, OSU turned its season around with Big 12 play, going 12-1 in conference matchups. OSU will continue its NCAA Tournament run with a matchup against Stanford next round.