No. 3 Oklahoma State Cowgirls Tennis Claims Their First National Championship

(This story oringinated with Oklahoma State University athletic media relations and was greatly contriubted to by Pokes Report publisher Robert Allen.)

SEATTLE, Wash. – Oklahoma State women’s tennis has now won a national championship as they claimed the 2024 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Indoor National Championship and they did it by beating No. 14 Auburn, No. 10 Texas, No. 2 Stanford, and finished with a second win this season over No. 5 Michigan. It is how they did it that was so fun. The Cowgirls No. 1 singles player and No.17-ranked Anastasiya Komar had struggled some in the event and was still looking for her first singles win in the event in the finals. She found it.  

ITA Tennis

The end result was the ITA National Championship.

Komar lost the first set to Michigan senior Kari Miller 6-4, but battled back and used her hard forehand cross court that Miller mis-hit just getting her racquet frame on it to close out the second set at 6-4.

In the third set Komar was mostly in control, and she had to feel the increasing pressure as Michigan started to close out singles matches until they had tied the championship at 3-3. Komar worked it to lead 5-3 and had two match points, but Miller used a cross court volley off of a forehand to set it up to fight off the first match point. Then Komar put a forehand into the net to send the match to another game. 

This is where she closed it out, dominating the game and finsihing with a sizzling forehand down the line that Miller could only get a lob back and Komar at the net smashed it just over the net where Miller had no chance to close it out. Both teams had gathered ont he next court and the Cowgirls came running out to congratulate the 6-3 standout from Minsk, Belarus on clinching the championship. 

“This is awesome and I’ve been coaching a long time and to get this moment for this team is very special,” head coach Chris Young said to Alex Gruskin of Cracked Racquets afterwards. “We knew we had something special back in August. This was a battle. 

“When she gets that look in her eye and starts to hit those bombs and looks over at our team and says, ‘I’ve got this.’ Give Michigan so much credit. They are a tough team and a veteran team and credit to Naz (Komar) because that is the way that you close out a match,” Young finished on the clinching points.

The Cowgirls took the doubles point for the 1-0 lead in quick work as Komar and Ange Oby Kajuru defeated Jaeden Borwn and Kari Miller from Michigan 6-2. Ayumi Miyamoto teamed with Raquez Gonzalez to beat Michigan’s No. 2 doubles team of Anna Ross and Lily Jones 6-3. At the No. 3 doubles Sofiya Carrington and Kristina Novak went unfinished at 5-5 with the all freshman doubles team of Piper Charney and Reese Miller of Michigan. 

“Our No. 1 doubles team was dominant and I think they lost all of three games in four matches,” Young said of Komar and Kajuru. “That helps when you get your No. 1 singles playing like that and we were aggressive.”

Oklahoma State Athletics

Kajuru was a quick singles winner in 50 minutes/

The Cowgirls transfer from Iowa State, Kajuru, must not have wanted to play long today. Kajuru flew through her singles match in 50 minutes and took Julia Fliegner of Michigan 6-0, 6-1. Kajuru used a well-placed backhnad down the line to set up match point. Then got a break when Fliegner tried to smash a lob and put it into the net to close the match. Oklahoma State led 2-0. 

“She had to get used to playing as one of the top players in the country,” Young said of Kajuru. You know she is one of those kids that the bigger the moment the bigger she plays. I think she is getting really comfortable.”

It was obvious that she was very comfortable in her doubles and singles in the championship round.

The Cowgirls looked insurmountable when Kristina Novak won her No. 6 singles match in straight sets to puch the Cowgirls lead to 3-0. Michigan’s Lily Jones hit her slice backhand wide to give Novak double match point and Novak’s serve into Jones backhand forced her return into the net to take the match 6-2, 6-4. 

Oklahoma State Athletics

Novak was unbeaten in singles and doubles in Seattle.

“She is the umtimate team player and I think one of the reasons we recruited her was that she could be a leader. I thought that was something we were missing,” Young said of Novak, who played No. 1 singles a year ago and has not said a word about moving to No. 6. “She and I spent a lot of time talking about her being a leader and that no matter who we brought in that she was going to be a leader for this team. She has embraced that. There was never a talk about line-up.”

That is when the Wolverines started moving as Paiper Charner at the No. 5 singles beat Oklahoma State’s Ayuma Miyamoto in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to make it 3-1.

Gala Mesochoritou of Michigan won a three-setter after losing the first set to the Cowgirls Lucia Peyre. She came back and won the match 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to make it 3-2 in favor of the Cowgirls.

Then, perhaps, the hero of the weekend and the event for the Cowgirls in Sofiya Carrington battled to keep her match alive and keep more scoreboard pressure on Michigan. She was down a set to Jaeden Brown but fought back in the second set from 1-5 to take it to a second set tiebreaker before Brown finish the tiebreaker 7-4 to win the mattch 6-4, 7-6 and tie the championship at 3-3. 

“When she was down 3-1 in the second I went over and told her that she needed to stay out there longer,” Young said of a conversation he had with Carrington.

It was Carrington that clinched the Texas match in the quarterfinals with a three-set marathon that finished with a third set tiebreaker. It was Carrington that was a straight set momentum builder in the semifinals win over Stanford. She gets an unsung award for the finals.

“She hasn’t shown college tennis her best level. I told her that she has more in the tank when I recruited her,” Young said. “I think the thing that has impressed me the most about her is here presence.”

Now Oklahoma State moves to the outdoor season and will strive to win the next championship in women’s college tennis. The NCAA that they will host May 16-19 at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater. With this win they pretty mich guarantee that they will host the first and second round and the super regionals. Since they are hosting the Big 12 Championships the road for the Cowgirls will be totally paved at home. 

Next up, the Cowgirls open the outdoor season and the march to Stillwater with a match with Arizona State in Tempe on Feb. 17.

ITA Division 1 Indoor National Championship

No. 3 Oklahoma State 4  No. 5 Michigan 3

Singles competition

No. 17 Anastasiya Komar (OSU) def. No. 9 Kari Miller (MICH), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

No. 5 Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) def. No. 18 Julia Fliegner (MICH), 6-0, 6-1

No. 124 Gala Mesochoritou (MICH) def. No. 54 Lucia Peyre (OSU), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

Jaeden Brown (MICH) def. No. 122 Safiya Carrington (OSU), 6-4, 7-6(7-4)

Piper Charney (MICH) def. No. 46 Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU), 6-3, 6-2

Kristina Novak (OSU) def. No. 57 Lily Jones (MICH), 6-2, 6-4 

Doubles competition

No. 13 Anastasiya Komar and Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) def. No. 5 Kari Miller and Jaeden Brown (MICH), 6-2

Ayumi Miyamoto and Raquel Gonzalez (OSU) def. Anna Jones and Lily Ross (MICH), 6-3

Safiya Carrington and Kristina Novak (OSU) v. Piper Charney and Reese Miller (MICH), 5-5, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2); Singles (2, 6, 5, 4, 3, 1)