Cowgirls Look to Walk Off A Super Regional Victory with No. 25 Stanford
STILLWATER – It was only a few minutes last Saturday after the entire Oklahoma State Cowgirls tennis line-up had crashed the court where Melisa Ercan had just clinched the 4-2 upset over Bedlam rival Oklahoma to send the Cowgirls to the “Sweet 16” in NCAA tennis, and there was more good news. The Cowgirls would be hosting in the Super Regional at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 10 back at home at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
“It was amazing because we found it out right after we won that Texas Tech lost to Stanford,” Komar said of the double good news. “It added way more fun to our celebration.”
Sure it did. This past week was finals week on the OSU campus and the Cowgirls were able to take their finals and know they didn’t have to pack any bags and catch any planes. The Cowgirls would be in front of their fans in their home against No. 25 Stanford. The Cowgirls are 1-6 all-time vs. Stanford, but not against this team and Anastaysia Komar is the only player in the line-up that was 29-1 last season. The Cowgirls had their season halted in the Super Regional vs. Tennessee. Komar was part of a team that beat Stanford last season in the ITA Indoor Championship.
“Last year was an amazing year, but to me this year’s team is new,” Komar said. “We started off the season tough because we didn’t really know each other. The longer the season has gone, we hang out more together, got to know each other, and learned how to support each other on the courts, all this stuff. Now, I would say coming to the NCAA and being in the Sweet 16 we are almost as good, if not better than last year.”
Head coach Chris Young agrees that this team that came together late and includes two freshmen and three transfers to go with Komar has flipped a switch.
“This team has truly become a unit. These girls have really spent a lot of time together and you look at it, at one point this team was 7-6 and now we’re 21-7,” Young said. “A lot of that is the chemistry and development and the fact that these girls really like spending time together.”
That said, Stanford is coming off their best win of the season. The Cardinal are 17-8 overall, 7-5 in ACC play. They have lost the teams ranked 10th, 13th, 35th and that was painful as it was rival California. They have also lost to teams ranked 2, 7, 4, and 8 before the 4-1 in over No. 12 Texas Tech.
Stanford is good, their top two, I would put there one and two singles players up against any in the country,” Young said of No. 8-ranked Valerie Glozman and No. 12-ranked Connie Ma. Glozman and Ma play doubles together and are ranked No. 27 there.
“When you get two points that are that strong then they feel they just need to find two more points for the win,” Young said. “They have brought back Sasha Yepifanova, who played No. 1 for them last year and was out with a shoulder injury, but they’ve got her back and she is playing No. 5. She doesn’t serve the same way because of the shoulder injury but she has a lot of experience. She will be a tough out against Gracie Epps because Gracie is unbeaten at No. 5. That will be special.”
Glozman is a freshman from Bellvue, Wash. that has gone 31-5 overall in singles and 18-3 in dual competition. Ma is a senior from Dublin, Calf. and she is 28-5 in singles, 16-1 in duals. The duo is 23-9 as partners and they are 16-8 as Stanford’s No. 1 doubles tandem in duals.
As Young mentioned, the Cowgirls Gracie Epps at No. 5 singles is unbeaten 12-0 when playing as No. 5. The Cowgirls Melisa Ercan is 6-4 at No. 1 singles. You can add that she has won three professional titles and two major junior titles before coming to Oklahoma State. Komar is 17-2 playing No. 2 singles. In that No. 1 doubles spot, Komar and freshman Rose Marie Nijkamp are 20-3.
I like the Cowgirls chances at home with their fans on their courts. Again, 1 p.m. on Saturday.
