Oklahoma State Sweeps Big 12 Tennis Honors with Carrington and Becroft
(This story originated from Oklahoma State University athletic media relations and was edited by Pokes Report publisher Robert Allen.)
STILLWATER – Fresh off winning the ITA Indoor National Championship, Safiya Carrington of the Oklahoma State women’s tennis team was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Tuesday. After the Cowboys swept weekend matches including an upset of No. 5 Southern Cal, Isaac Becroft of the Oklahoma State men’s tennis team secured Big 12 Player of the Week honors. It marks the second time OSU tennis has swept the Big 12 weekly honors, with Cowgirl tennis’ Safiya Carrington winning on the women’s side. It is the first Big 12 weekly award for Becroft.
He maintained his perfect singles mark at 7-0 as he added to his resume with an impressive weekend. Becroft holds the team lead for best record in singles, tied with freshman Erik Schiessl. He has also tallied five wins in doubles action with partner Alessio Basile.
Becroft clinched the match against No. 5 USC, in a battle that was much closer than a 6-1 OSU victory. After OSU jumped out to a 3-0 lead, the Trojans got one back on court three. With three courts remaining, USC had the momentum on all three courts. After losing the second set and narrowly winning the first in a 9-7 tiebreaker, Becroft bounced back in dominant fashion, winning 6-0 in the third set, clinching the match for the Pokes. The win marked OSU’s first victory over a top-5 opponent since Feb. 21, 2020.
A day later, he followed with a tight first set against Princeton’s Sebastian Sec. The tie breaker wasn’t close, with Becroft pouncing on a 7-0 advantage. The senior came out victorious, 7-6(7-0), 6-2, helping OSU overcome the Tigers, 4-3.
This is the first time in Carrington’s career she has won the award, and she becomes the fourth Cowgirl to earn the honor this season, joining Anastasiya Komar, Lucia Peyre and Raquel Gonzalez. Carrington went 3-1 in singles and 2-1 in doubles in the tournament, collecting three ranked singles wins from the No. 4 spot for No. 3 Oklahoma State. Her singles victories also clinched wins for OSU in the first two rounds and she clinched the doubles point for the Cowgirls against No. 14 Auburn and No. 2 Stanford.
In the quarterfinal win over No. 10 Texas, the score was tied a three with only Carrington’s match still being played as the decider. Down 5-7, 0-4, Carrington battled back to force a third set before winning the match in a tiebreaker to keep the Cowgirls’ championship hopes alive.
The indoor national championship capped what has been a historic start to the 2024 season for Oklahoma State. The Cowgirls are 9-0 with five wins over top-10 ranked opponents and eight wins over top-15 ranked opponents.
The Cowgirls will look to add to their impressive resume when they travel to Tempe, Arizona, to take on No. 24 Arizona State on Saturday.