Tennis Concludes Regular-Season at Home
April 17, 2015 02:48 PM | General
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| Photo By: Steven Prunty |
| West Virginia concludes its regular-season campaign this weekend, as it hosts No. 39 Oklahoma on Saturday, April 18 and No. 10 Oklahoma State on Sunday, April 19. |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s tennis team concludes its regular-season campaign this weekend, as it hosts No. 39 Oklahoma on Saturday, April 18, at 1 p.m., and No. 10 Oklahoma State on Sunday, April 19, at 10 a.m.
Weather permitting, both matches will be played outside at the Mountaineer Tennis Courts.
West Virginia also celebrates the career of lone senior Ikttesh Chahal at Sunday’s match against Oklahoma State. Chahal has represented West Virginia University well both on and off the court. On the court, Chahal career dual record in singles stands at 26-48, while her doubles dual record stands at 27-44. Her overall career record in singles is 32-72.
Chahal has been named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team each of the last two years (2013, 2014) and was named an ITA Scholar Athlete in 2014.
“It always feels good to be playing on our home courts and be outside for our first outdoor matches of the season. It is nice to play out here behind the Coliseum and have a solid home crowd at the matches as well,” said second-year coach Miha Lisac. “It’s also a very important match because we are recognizing our lone senior Ik (Ikttesh Chahal). It is a big weekend for her, and she has worked very hard in representing our program on and off the court. With that said, it’s a big weekend for everybody.”
Last week, the Mountaineers (9-10, 0-7) fell to No. 15 Texas Tech, 4-0, on Friday, April 10, in Lubbock, Texas. West Virginia remained in Texas as it squared off against No. 19 TCU on Sunday, April 12, but dropped a 5-1 decision to the Horned Frogs to close out the weekend.
Freshman Habiba Shaker has a team-best 12-3 mark in doubles play as she has teamed up with junior Hailey Barrett as well as classmates Lyn Yuen Choo, Yvon Martinez and Carolina Lewis throughout the spring.
Shaker holds an 8-3 mark at the No. 4 position and a 3-1 mark at the No. 5 position in singles play. Sophomore Kaja Mrgole has tallied nine wins at the No. 1 slot, and Lewis has a team-best 11-2 mark in dual-match play, with victories at the No. 5 and No. 6 slots.
WVU and Oklahoma (12-8, 2-6) have played just two matches against each other, with the Sooners holding a 2-0 series edge. OU has dropped four of its last five matches, and is coming off a 4-3 loss at home to the Kansas Jayhawks.
At the No. 1 singles slot, OU’s Lily Miyazaki has a dual-match record of 13-4 this spring. In doubles, Simran Sethi and Miyazaki recorded a team-best 8-4 at the No. 2 position, followed by Christiana Brigante and Zita Engbroks on court three (8-5).
WVU and Oklahoma State (18-4, 5-2) have played two previous matches, and the Cowgirls hold a 2-0 series advantage. The Cowgirls find themselves in the top 10 for the second week in a row at the No.10-spot in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings.
OSU boasts three Cowgirls in the singles poll, including Viktoriya Lushkova at No. 16, No. 103 Vladica Babic and No. 109 Katarina Adamovic. The duo of Kelsey Laurente and Lushkova pair up as the nation’s 12th-ranked doubles team as well.
At the No. 1 singles position, Lushkova holds a 10-3 record in dual-match play this spring. In doubles, OSU’s Adamovic and Babic holds a team-best 12-3 mark on court two.
“Obviously, we have two very good teams coming in, but we are continuing to look to get better and improve going into the Big 12 Championship next week,” Lisac stated. “Hopefully, we are able to get our first Big 12 victory this weekend.”
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