Oklahoma Hosts Mississippi State, Alabama to Close Regular Season

NORMAN – The No. 4 Oklahoma women's tennis team will close its regular season with two home matches this weekend, facing Mississippi State on Friday and No. 35 Alabama on Sunday.

MATCHDAY BASICS

The Sooners' 2025 matches at the Headington Family Tennis Center are open to the public and free of charge. Due to the elimination of concessions, fans are encouraged to bring their own food and drinks. Oklahoma follows a clear bag policy.

First serve against the Bulldogs is set for 5 p.m. CT on Friday. The match will feature Oklahoma's annual Bark in the Park event, allowing fans to enjoy the action alongside their canine companions. Free tennis ball throwers will be available to fans until supplies last. A pre-match hot dog cookout will also be provided courtesy of OU tennis.

Sunday's match against the Crimson Tide is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT. Fans attending Sunday's match are encouraged to wear white. A brief senior day ceremony will be held before first serve.

Both matches will be available via live stats and streamed on PlaySight.

LAST TIME OUT

Oklahoma secured its fourth top-10 win of the season with a 4-1 victory over No. 10 LSU at the LSU Tennis Complex.

The win marked Oklahoma's first all-time victory over LSU in their inaugural meeting as SEC opponents.

For the third time this season, the Sooners earned a victory despite dropping the doubles point.

For the second consecutive match, Julia Garcia Ruiz sparked Oklahoma's singles rally, cruising to a 6-1, 6-1 win on court two. The junior and 2024 NCAA semifinalist has now won three straight matches in straight sets.

Ava Catanzarite followed with a 6-1, 6-3 victory on court five, earning her team-leading 13th dual win of the season.

Following closely behind, No. 51 Emma Staker added the Sooners' third point with a 6-2, 6-2 win. The Tulsa native leads the SEC with 11 wins this spring at the No. 4 singles position.

Salakthip Ounmuang clinched the match for Oklahoma with a 6-4, 7-6(4) win on court three.Read Mo

SOONERS IN THE RANKINGS

Oklahoma currently sits at No. 4 in the ITA team rankings. The squad reached a season-high ranking of No. 3 on Feb. 12, their best ranking since being tabbed No. 2 during the 2022 campaign which remains the highest ranking in program history. OU's impressive resume includes four ranked wins over top-10 opponents.

Additionally, the Sooners have four players in the ITA singles rankings. Leading the pack is No. 23 Julia Garcia Ruiz, followed by No. 30 Alina Shcherbinina, No. 63 Emma Staker and No. 110 Salakthip Ounmuang.

In doubles, Oklahoma is represented by two teams ranked No. 41 — Garcia Ruiz and Shcherbinina, and Ounmuang and Roisin Gilheany — followed by No. 53 Shcherbinina and Cara Mester, and No. 86 Garcia Ruiz and Chloé Noël.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Julia Garcia Ruiz sparked the singles rally in both of the Sooners' road victories at No. 32 Ole Miss and No. 10 LSU last weekend. Playing on court two in singles and finishing first in both contests, then-No. 19 Garcia Ruiz triumphed over Mississippi's No. 112 Ludmila Kareisova (6-1, 6-1) on Friday, securing her second straight ranked victory. On Sunday, she returned to the court and made quick work of LSU's Tilwith Di Girolami with a 6-1, 6-1 win.

In doubles action, the junior from Morelia, Mexico, paired up with senior Alina Shchebinina to clinch the doubles point against the Rebels with a clutch 6-4 victory over No. 28 Ludmila Kareisova and Anaelle Leclercq. It marked the second consecutive week the Sooners' No. 1 duo earned a win over a top-30 opponent.

HOME SWEET HOME

The Sooners return to the Headington Family Tennis Center on Friday to complete their final homestand of the season.

Six of OU's eight matchups against conference opponents ranked within the top 25 of the ITA team rankings were on the road, making the Sooners' slate one of the toughest in the country in their inaugural SEC season.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION

Mississippi State (10-13, 0-13 SEC) enters Friday's match aiming for its first conference win of the season. The Rebels are represented in the ITA doubles rankings by No. 43 Athina Pitta and Gianna Oboniye.

Friday's matchup with the Bulldogs will mark the first meeting in program history, as the Sooners officially joined the SEC on July 1, 2024.

No. 35 Alabama (12-12, 3-10 SEC) enters Sunday's match on a three-match winning streak. The Crimson Tide are featured in both polls. Their lone-ranked singles player is No. 53 Petra Sedlackova.

No. 73 Maria Martinez Vaquero and Maria Andrienko highlight the team's presence in the doubles rankings.

Sunday's match will be the 10th meeting between the Sooners and Crimson Tide with inaugural showdown coming in 1981. Alabama leads the all-time series 6-3.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will await their seeding before traveling to Auburn, Alabama, for the SEC Tennis Championship, set for April 16–20.

FOLLOW THE OKLAHOMA SOONERS

For updates, follow @OU_Wtennis on Twitter and Instagram, or like Oklahoma Women's Tennis on Facebook.