Carrington Comes from Way Behind to Clinch Finals Berth for No. 1 Oklahoma State
(This story originated with Oklahoma State University Athletic Media Relations and was written by Hayden Simmons and was contributed to by Robert Allen, publisher of Pokes Report.)
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State’s top-ranked women’s tennis team defeated Texas Tech, 4-0, Friday evening in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater. With the win, the Cowgirls improve to 26-0 on the season and advance to their first conference title match since 2017 and sixth in program history. OSU will meet No. 7 Texas in the final on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Stillwater, taking on a Longhorn team it has already beaten twice this season.
The Cowgirls opened the match by taking the doubles point. The pairing of Raquel Gonzalez and Ayumi Miyamoto defeated Texas Tech’s Mariya Polishchuk and Cristina Tiglea, 6-3, on court two for the first win toward the doubles point.
After trailing 5-1 on court one, the fifth-ranking pairing of Anastasiya Komar and Ange Oby Kajuru defeated Metka Komac and Avelina Sayfetdinova in a tiebreaker to secure the doubles point for the Cowgirls, 7-6 (7-5).
Kristina Novak and Safiya Carrington had their match go unfinished but led Jermine Sherif and Camryn Stepp, 5-5.
Singles play saw its first point go to the Cowgirls when No. 15 Komar took down No. 46 Tiglea, 7-5, 6-1, on court one.
The next win for the Cowgirls came from court five as No. 93 Miyamoto battled through three sets to take down Kate Dmitrichenko, 2-6, 6-1, 6-0.
Coming down to the end, all remining courts went to the third set. All eyes were on court four as No. 62 Carrington rallied to bring the Cowgirls to victory with her victory over Metka Komac, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. Carrington had gone down 1-5 in the third set but kept chipping away and got on a huge roll and Komac’s game fell apart. It is about the third time this season that Carrington has roared back in a match that didn’t seem to be going well.
Three courts went unfinished as the Cowgirls completed their sweep. No. 2 Kajuru led Polishchuk, 7-5, 6-7, 3-1. On court three No. 55 Peyre led Sayfetinova, 6-2, 6-7, 3-2, and Novak was also ahead on Andreea Lila, 6-7, 6-1, 3-0.
No. 1 Oklahoma State 4 Texas Tech 0
Singles competition
1. No. 15 Anastasiya Komar (OSU) def. Cristine Tiglea (TTU) 7-5, 6-1
2. No. 2 Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) v. Mariya Polishchuk (TTU) 7-5, 6-7, 3-1 unfinished
3. No. 55 Lucia Peyre (OSU) v. Avelina Sayfetinova (TTU) 6-2, 6-7, 3-2 unfinished
4. No. 62 Safiya Carrington (OSU) def. Metka Komac (TTU) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
5. No. 93 Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU) def. Kate Dmitrichenko (TTU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-0
6. Kristina Novak (OSU) v. Andreea Lila (TTU) 6-7, 6-1, 3-0 unfinished
Doubles competition
1. No. 5 Anastasiya Komar and Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) def. Metka Komac and Avelina Sayfetdinova (TTU) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Ayumi Miyamoto and Raquel Gonzalez (OSU) def. Mariya Polishchuk and Cristina Tiglea (TTU) 6-3
3. Kristina Novak and Safiya Carrington (OSU) v. Jermine Sherif and Camryn Stepp (TTU) 5-5 unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (1,5,4)