Cowgirl Tennis Set To Host New Mexico State In NCAA Tournament First Round

Match Notes

The Basics  

After earning the event’s No. 12 overall seed, Oklahoma State’s women’s tennis team (18-5 overall; 7-2 Big 12) is set to host a first-round NCAA Championship matchup against New Mexico State (11-15 overall; 3-1 WAC). The Cowgirls and Aggies square off at 4 p.m. (CST) on May 7 in Stillwater. If the Cowgirls win, they will advance to the second round to play the winner of UCLA and Arkansas. The second round is slated for a 2 p.m. contest on May 8. 

Following the Action  

This weekend’s matches can be viewed at this link: https://t1.app.link/ncaa2022. Fans can also follow along with live stats at okstate.statbroadcast.com.  

In the Rankings  

Oklahoma State’s women’s tennis team enters the postseason ranked No. 12 in the latest ITA Top 25 rankings. This marks the 15th consecutive week the Cowgirls have appeared in the top 25 poll. In addition to the team rankings, four Cowgirls were ranked in the ITA Tennis Division I women’s tennis rankings. The national rankings feature the top 125 singles players and the top 60 doubles teams in the country. OSU veteran Lisa Marie Rioux earned the highest singles ranking of any Cowgirl as she checked in at No. 20, while freshman Mhai Sawangkaew remained in at No. 31. Two Cowgirl duos earned a spot in the top 60, including the dominant court one tandem of Ayumi Miyamoto and Lisa Marie Rioux, who rose a spot to No. 12. Mhai Sawangkaew and Martina Zerulo are the 75th- ranked duo in the nation.  

Series History  

Oklahoma State holds a 5-0 all-time record against New Mexico State. The last time OSU faced New Mexico State dates back to 2006, when the Cowgirls handled the Aggies, 4-1.  

Oklahoma State From a Distance  

OSU is fresh off a bye week following the Big 12 Championship. The Cowgirls were defeated by second-seeded Texas in the Big 12 semifinal, 4-1. In the quarterfinal, OSU collected a 4-3 victory over sixth-seeded Texas Tech after an impressive performance. OSU finished the regular season hosting top-five opponents in Stillwater. The Cowgirls prevailed with a gutsy performance over fifth-ranked Pepperdine, 4-3, to earn the 100th Greenwood Tennis Center and close out the regular season with a statement, proving it belongs on college tennis’ biggest stage. To start the weekend, OSU showed tremendous fight in a valiant effort but dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to the second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners. Before last weekend, OSU extended its winning streak to five, closing out their road stand Sunday, gutting out a win against No. 26 Iowa State in Ames, 4-3. Two days before, OSU put on a show in a dominating performance sweeping West Virginia in Morgantown, 7-0, notching the squad’s eighth sweep of the season. The matches marked the second consecutive road weekend for the Cowgirls, as OSU faced Texas Tech on a windy evening in Lubbock the weekend prior, but that didn’t stop OSU from putting together a strong performance to earn its first road victory of the 2021-22 season and spoil Texas Tech’s four-match win streak. Two days later, OSU registered another complete effort, taking down TCU, 4-1, to finish off the weekend to improve to 14-3 on the season and 5-1 in Big 12 play. The winning streak started at the end of March when OSU closed out its conference homestand with a top 25 win, dominating then-No. 22 Baylor in Stillwater, 5-2. It was an exciting match the Cowgirls controlled from start to finish. Two days before the Baylor match, OSU dropped a hard-fought match to then-No. 6 Texas, 4-1. OSU held a 10-match winning streak which was snapped after dropping a hard-fought contest against UCF, 4-3. Before the UCF match, OSU completed an undefeated start to Big 12 play in its conference-opening homestand, where the Cowgirls started the weekend completing their seventh sweep of the year after dominating Kansas State, 4-0. OSU moved to 11-1 on the season and added another top 25 win to its resume, taking down then-No. 24 Kansas to finish off the weekend. This season, OSU returns Alana Wolfberg, Dariya Detkovskaya, Ayumi Miyamoto and Lora Boggs from last year’s team. OSU signed Sofia Rojas, Oona Orpana, Mhai Mananchaya and Martina Zerulo. The veterans and Cowgirl newcomers have played a large role in the team’s success this spring. OSU set the stage this fall for high expectations come the spring season between the three returners and five signees. Freshman Mhai Sawangkaew has answered the call for OSU. Sawangkaew was named the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year and was a first-team All-Big 12 Freshman Team selection. Additionally, she was named an individual season champion by position as the top No. 2 singles player in the conference. Sawangkaew holds a 17-2 record. In addition, two-time All-American Lisa Marie Rioux leads OSU on court one in singles with a 10-6 mark on the season, including a win over the nation’s top-ranked singles player. Rioux was named to the first-team All-Big 12 team. In addition, Martina Zerulo has been steady, holding a 12-4 record on court three. OSU has won the doubles point in 16 out of 22 matches, led by the duo of Lisa Marie Rioux and Ayumi Miyamoto. The first-team All-Big 12 pair holds a 17-3 clip on the season. To close out February, OSU was crowned champions at the Blue Gray Tennis Classic after winning three matches in two days. The Cowgirls swept Yale and Furman while adding another top 25 win to their resume, taking down then-No. 18 Wake Forest in the finals. The Cowgirls showed off their depth at ITA Kickoff weekend competing without two-time All-American Lisa Marie Rioux. OSU went 1-1, finishing the weekend with a 4-0 shutout of 21st-ranked LSU. OSU dropped a hard-fought match against No. 11 Ohio State, 4-1, on day one of play. OSU picked up a 5-2 win over pre-season top-25 opponent Princeton to begin the spring dual season.  

Streaks and Trends  

•OSU has won the doubles point in 16 out of 22 matches.

•The Cowgirls enter their 15th consecutive week ranked in the top 25.                                     

•Mhai Sawangkaew holds a 17-2 record on the year in singles play.                                               

•Lisa Marie Rioux and Ayumi Miyamoto enter this weekend having won 17 out of their last 20 matches.  

The Cowgirls at the NCAA Championships  

OSU enters the NCAA Championship for the first 10th straight season. The Cowgirls are 11-11 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Championship. OSU enters the tournament as the No. 12 overall seed. In recent seasons, OSU has found success at the NCAA Championship, earning a trip to the Sweet 16 in three of the last five years, including a trip to the national championship match back in 2016.