Cowgirls Tennis Takes Down Southern Cal and May Have Recruited a Prize

(Robert Allen of Pokes Report contributed to this story with the details on the USC player looking to transfer.)

STILLWATER - Oklahoma State's 22nd-ranked women's tennis team picked up a top-10 win on Saturday, taking down the No. 10 USC Trojans in Stillwater, 4-1. The win pushed OSU to 5-1 on the season with three victories coming against preseason ITA  Top 25 programs. 

The Cowgirls also defeated rival Tulsa 4-0 on Sunday over the weekend.

Not only did Oklahoma State get an important win, but USC’s No. 1-ranked singles player Eryn Cayetano, a junior out of Long Beach, Calf., is in the NCAA Transfer Portal and looking for a school to possibly transfer to. Oklahoma State put on a show with their performance on the court and an enthusiastic near full house indoors at the Greenwood Tennis Center. The crowd was estimated at 400.
 
OSU started the afternoon by taking the doubles point after victories on courts one and two. Lisa Marie Rioux and Ayumi Miyamoto put on a show. After dropping the first game, the duo fought back to tie the match at two. Then, Miyamoto and Rioux rattled off four-straight games to rout the fifth-ranked duo in the nation, Snow Han and Salma Ewing, 6-2.

Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics

Martina Zerulo celebrates with Mhai Sawangkaew after they clinched the doubles point.

Mhai Sawangkaew and Martina Zerulo were back and forth with 40th-ranked Grace Piper and Eryn Cayetano. With their backs against the wall trailing 6-5, the Cowgirl duo showed tremendous toughness and tied the match at six. Zerulo and Sawangkaew caught fire in the tiebreaker and sealed the doubles point for OSU in clutch fashion. 
 
Oona Orpana and Dariya Detkovskaya dropped a hard-fought match to USC's Sloane Morra and Danielle Willson, 6-3. 
 
Oona Opana extended OSU's lead with a dominating victory. The freshman won six games in a row on the way to a 6-0, 6-1 rout of USC's Sloane Morra. Opana used strong ground strokes combined with some change of pace to keep Morra completely off balance.

USC got on the board via Grace Piper's 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Ayumi Miyamoto. 
 
Lisa Marie Rioux answered the Trojan point with a statement victory against Cayetano, the top-ranked singles player in the nation. Rioux won the first seven games on the way to a 6-0, 6-3 win against Cayetano.

Then, 30th-ranked Mhai Sawangkaew downed Salma Ewing 6-4, 5-2, to earn the match-clinching point for the Cowgirls. Sawangkaew was a blur moving around on the court combining her athletcism with strong ground strokes and time;y advances to the net.

Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics

Cowgirls celebrate win over USC.

When her match was stopped, Martina Zerulo trailed 7-5, 4-1, against No. 52 Snow Han. After a challenging first set, Sofia Rojas fought her way back. She trailed, 4-2, in the third set when her match was called. 
 
OSU is back in action tomorrow at noon against Tulsa at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

Results:
Singles
Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 2
1. Lisa Marie Rioux (WOSU22) def. Eryn Cayetano (USC) 6-0, 6-3
2. Mhai Sawangkaew (WOSU22) def. Salma Ewing (USC) 6-4, 6-2
3. Martina Zerulo (WOSU22) vs. Snow Han (USC) 5-7, 1-4, unfinished
4. Oona Orpana (WOSU22) def. Sloane Morra (USC) 6-0, 6-1
5. Grace Piper (USC) def. Ayumi Miyamoto (WOSU22) 6-3, 6-1
6. Sofia Rojas (WOSU22) vs. Danielle Willson (USC) 0-6, 6-1, 2-4, unfinished

Doubles
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
1. Mhai Sawangkaew/Martina Zerulo (WOSU22) def. Grace Piper/Eryn Cayetano (USC) 7-6 (7-2)
2. Lisa Marie Rioux/Ayumi Miyamoto (WOSU22) def. Snow Han/Salma Ewing (USC) 6-2
3. Sloane Morra/Danielle Willson (USC) def. Oona Orpana/Dariya Detkovskaya (WOSU22) 6-3