Cowgirl tennis overpowers No. 17 Miami
The No. 12 Oklahoma State women’s tennis team tallied its third top-25 triumph of the season Saturday, defeating No. 17 Miami, 4-2, at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
The Cowgirls (7-1) opened the day with a couple of convincing wins in doubles, before closing out the match with straight-set victories from Marina Guinart, Katarina Stresnakova and Megan McCray.
“We’re playing with quite a bit of confidence,” coach Chris Young said. “We’ve played with good confidence all season and competed hard, and I think that’s what has helped us be successful.”
OSU got on the board first by picking up the doubles point thanks to wins from its top two tandems. Guinart and Stresnakova struck first with a 6-2 victory over Miami’s Daniella Roldan and Dominika Paterova on court two for the pair’s third dual win together. The Cowgirls would clinch the point on one, as McCray and Vladica Babic snagged their first win as a duo in a 6-1 trouncing of No. 33 Ana Madcur and Estela Perez-Somarriba.
“We played really well today,” Babic said. “We just made a lot of balls. I think it’s just matter of time, and the more we play the more comfortable we’re going to be. I think you see that with every match…Today, we too all of our chances and were very aggressive.”
“It was nice,” Young said. “A team like Miami is so tough. Every point is really important. I thought we came out at one and two doubles and played our best doubles of the season. I was really happy with that. Obviously, we’ve put a lot of effort into improving our doubles, and I thought today was a good example of that.”
The Cowgirls quickly stretched their lead to three in singles with Stresnakova and Guinart posting impressive wins on courts three and four, respectively, to stay undefeated on the dual season.
Guinart handled Daniella Roldan, 6-3, 6-2, on four to push the OSU advantage to 2-0. With the win – her 15thof the season – Guinart improves her dual record to 5-0 this season.
“I feel really good,” Guinart said. “Today, I might not have played my best, but I fight. I feel like a lot of other girls struggle with how I fight, so I feel very confident right now.
Stresnakova moved to 7-0 this spring and 18-4 overall with a 6-0, 6-0, shutout of Ana Madcur to put the Cowgirls a point away from the win. The OSU junior has been impressive in holding down the No. 3 spot for the Pokes so far this season, having yet to give up a set in dual competition.
“I’m proud of her because she has put in the work,” Young said. “We’ve always talked to her about the work she needs to do and she does a good job. She is limited on her resources when she goes home on Christmas break, but she did a lot better of a job this year of maintaining her level. She is really improving, and I think one thing you see (at OSU) is girls come here, develop and get better. She is an example of that.”
The Hurricanes cut the Cowgirl lead to one with a pair of wins on courts five and six. Miami’s Dominika Paterova defeated freshman Shir Hornung, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 6. After a tough battle from OSU’s Sofia Blanco to force a tiebreaker in the second set and fighting off several match points, Hurricane Ulyana Shirokova was able to get the 6-2, 7-6(11) victory to shave the team score to 3-2.
For the second-straight match, senior Megan McCray clinched the win for the Cowgirls in a 6-4, 7-5 tally over No. 58 Sinead Lohan. After taking a back-and-forth first set, McCray twice fell down a break in the second set before storming back and taking five of the final six games to claim her second consecutive ranked singles win.
As play was suspended, Babic was only a game away from defeating No. 16 Estela Perez-Somarriba in the third set. The Cowgirl battled back from a tough first set to take the second, 6-2, and eventually lead, 5-2, in the final frame.
OSU will be back in action on Sunday at noon to face Pacific at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
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