Headed West, Women's Tennis Opens ITA Kickoff Weekend Friday

NORMAN – The No. 17 Oklahoma women's tennis team will head west to Berkeley, Calif., for the 2025 ITA Women's Kickoff Weekend, which will take place at 14 regional sites on college campuses across the country this weekend.

MATCHDAY BASICS

The four-team field at the Cal Regional will include No. 14 Cal, No. 17 Oklahoma, San Diego State and Grand Canyon in action at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

OU will face San Diego State in the first round on Friday at 4 p.m. CT, while Cal and Grand Canyon will compete on the other side of the bracket.

The winners of Friday's matches will compete Saturday in the championship match at 3 p.m., with the winner punching its ticket to the ITA National Indoor Championships set for Feb. 7-11 in Illinois. The remaining teams will play a consolation contest Saturday at 12 p.m. CT.

LAST TIME OUT

Oklahoma opened its 2025 dual slate with a pair of wins over Wichita State and Wyoming on Jan. 17.

It marked the second consecutive season in which the Sooners opened their spring campaign with back-to-back victories against the Shockers and Cowgirls.

The Sooners kicked off the match in doubles against the Shockers. Finishing first, No. 28 Cara Mester and Alina Shcherbinina earned a quick 6-2 win at the top court over Giorgia Roselli and Xin Tong Wan. Wichita State answered with a 6-3 win at the No. 2 spot from Kristina Kudryavtseva and Theodora Chantava against Julia Garcia Ruiz and Salakthip Ounmuang. To secure the opening point for the Sooners, Chloé Noël and Gloriana Nahum knocked off WSU's Anne Knuettel and Tatyana Nikolenko, 6-3, on court three.

Going into singles with the 1-0 advantage, No. 66 Emma Staker met Kudryavtseva and delivered a quick 6-1, 6-3 win for the Sooners to extend their lead. Ounmuang joined Staker in the win column at the No. 3 spot by defeating Chantava, 7-5, 6-1.

To clinch OU's first win of the season, No. 43 Shcherbinina picked up a straight-set, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Roselli.

OU's second match against Wyoming opened with a clinched doubles point for the Sooners. On court three, Nahum and Ounmuang took the win over Ruby Young and Serina Abriola, 6-1. At the No. 2 spot, No. 30 Noël and Garcia Ruiz went up against Ana Kochelaevskaia and Eugenia Ceinos and grabbed the 6-3 victory to secure the advantage.

Singles opened with No. 68 Catanzarite taking the 6-1, 6-0 win at court five over Dilnaz Mashabayeva and Noël with the 6-1, 6-1 victory against Young at the No. 3 spot.

Mester clinched the match 4-0 for the Sooners on court six, defeating Abriola 6-3, 6-1.

The remaining courts played on, as Ounmuang, No. 43 Shcherbinina and Noël all added wins to secure the shutout for the Sooners.

IN THE RANKINGS

The Sooners (2-0, 0-0 SEC) currently have four players in the ITA singles rankings. Leading the pack is No. 14 Julia Garcia Ruiz, followed by No. 43 Alina Shcherbinina, No. 66 Emma Staker and No.68 Ava Catanzarite.

In doubles, OU is represented by No. 28 Shcherbinina and Cara Mester, followed by No. 30 Garcia Ruiz and Chloé Noël. .

UP NEXT

The Sooners will hit the road for a short trip up to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane on Feb. 4 at 2 p.m. CT. OU's next home match is set for Friday, March 7, against Missouri at 5 p.m. CT.