Texas Tech Athletics
Oklahoma
No. 23 Sooners outlast Lady Raiders in Norman
April 06, 2024 | Women's Tennis
NORMAN, Okla. – It was a four-hour long battle, but the No. 23 Oklahoma Sooners edged out the No. 26 Texas Tech Lady Raiders, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at the Headington Family Tennis Center.
Oklahoma (14-5, 9-2 Big 12) was able to come up with a tough doubles point against Texas Tech (15-7, 8-3 Big 12). The Lady Raiders' No. 6 duo of Metka Komac and Avelina Sayfetdinova picked up another ranked victory after they took down No. 19-ranked Roisin Gilheany and Dana Guzman in dominant fashion, 6-2, at court one. Then, the Sooners evened it up whenever Julia Garcia Ruiz and Zdena Safarova defeated Mariya Polishchuk and Cristina Tiglea at court two, 6-3.
It all came down to court three for the doubles point where Yekaterina Dmitrichenko and Camryn Stepp were taking on Ava Catanzarite and Chloe Noel. The Lady Raider pair took a 3-1 lead thanks to a break, but OU would come back to tie it at 3-all. The two teams traded games to force a tiebreaker where the Lady Raiders led 2-0 early. The Sooners would win four-straight points or a 4-2 advantage before Tech tied it at 4-4. At 5-5, the Sooners would win the next two points to claim the match, 7-6 (5), and give Oklahoma the doubles point.
Texas Tech tied things at 1-all after Sayfetdinova collected her second ranked win of the day. The Lady Raider was facing No. 97 Alina Shcherbinina at court three and took an early 3-0 lead in set one. The Sooner battled back to lead 5-4 in the set before Sayfetdinova forced a tiebreaker that she was able to win, 7-6 (5). In the following set, the Moscow, Russia native only gave up one game en route to the 6-1 victory.
Oklahoma retook the lead when Noel defeated Komac at court five by a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 score. But, the lead was short-lived after Andreea Lila picked up her eighth singles win in Big 12 play after taking down Emma Staker. Lila fell in the first set, 1-6, before winning the next one, 6-2. The Lady Raider and Sooner would tie 3-3 in the third set before Lila won the next three games for the 6-3 third-set victory.
The Sooners won the next two matches to clinch the victory, 4-2, after No. 40 Guzman beat Polishchuk at court two, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, then No. 29 Garcia Ruiz defeated No. 39 Tiglea at court one, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Dmitrichenko and No. 55 Florence Urrutia were playing out their match at court four when the Sooners clinched. Urrutia took set one, 7-5, then the Lady Raider forced a third set with a gritty, 6-4 second set win. In the third set, Dmitrichenko was down 1-2 and 2-3 before tying the set at 3-all. It would go back-and-forth until Dmitrichenko won the final two games for a 7-5 third set, recording her third ranked singles win of the year in the process.
Up next, the Lady Raiders are back at home next week starting with a match against West Viginia on Thursday, April 11 at 5 p.m. at the McLeod Tennis Center.
RESULTS
#26 Texas Tech 3, #23 Oklahoma 4
Singles
1. #29 Julia Garcia Ruiz (OU) def. #39 Cristina Tiglea (TTU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
2. #40 Dana Guzman (OU) def. Mariya Polishchuk (TTU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
3. Avelina Sayfetdinova (TTU) def. #97 Alina Shcherbinina (OU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
4. Kate Dmitrichenko (TTU) def. #55 Florencia Urrutia (OU) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5
5. Chloe Noel (OU) def. Metka Komac (TTU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
6. Andreea Lila (TTU) def. Emma Staker (OU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
1. #6 Avelina Sayfetdinova/Metka Komac (TTU) def. #19 Dana Guzman/Roisin Gilheany (OU) 6-2
2. #71 Julia Garcia Ruiz/Zdena Safarova (OU) def. Cristina Tiglea/Mariya Polishchuk (TTU) 6-3
3. Chloe Noel/Ava Catanzarite (OU) def. Kate Dmitrichenko/Camryn Stepp (TTU) 7-6 (7-5)
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3); Singles (3, 5, 6, 2, 1, 4)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,5,6,2,1,4
Players Mentioned
