Photos
DALLAS – Tournament Most Outstanding Player Ksenia Laskutova won the clinching match at No. 1 singles and delivered the first point of the match at No. 1 doubles as Tulsa won its third American Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Championship in four years with a 4-0 win against SMU Saturday evening at Turpin Stadium.
The Golden Hurricane took two of the three doubles contests and won the first three singles matches in straight sets to join the 2015 and 2016 Tulsa teams as American Athletic Conference champions.
Laskutova went 2-0 at No. 1 singles and won a pair of doubles matches in the tournament. She helped Tulsa clinch the doubles point Saturday when she paired with Martha Matoula for a 7-5 win at No. 1 after the Golden Hurricane and Mustangs had split the No. 2 and No. 3 contests.
Laskutova took her first set 6-4 against SMU's Karina Traxler and found herself tied at 4-4 in the second set when the Golden Hurricane picked up singles wins at No. 6 from Shura Poppe and at No. 5 from Vera Ploner. Laskutova got a key break to take a 5-4 lead in the second set before she served out to clinch the title.
Tulsa, which is ranked No. 29 nationally, improved to 21-5 with the win and will take a five-match winning streak into the NCAA Championship after earning The American's automatic bid. Pairings for the 2018 NCAA Championship will be announced May 1.
SMU, which was playing its fourth match in four days, saw a nine-match winning streak come to an end in its first appearance in The American final. The Mustangs fell to 15-9 on the year
Tulsa 4, SMU 0
Records: Tulsa (21-5), SMU (15-9)
|
SINGLES (order of finish: 6, 5, 1) |
|
| 1. |
No. 74 Ksenia Laskutova (Tulsa) def. Karina Traxler (SMU) |
6-4, 6-4 |
| 2. |
Martina Okalova (Tulsa) vs. Liza Buss (SMU) |
unfinished |
| 3. |
Tamara Kupkova (Tulsa) vs. Anzhelika Shapovalova (SMU) |
unfinished |
| 4. |
Martha Matoula (Tulsa) vs. Ana Perez-Lopez (SMU) |
unfinished |
| 5. |
Vera Ploner (Tulsa) def. Sarai Monarrez Yesaki (SMU) |
7-5, 7-5 |
| 6. |
Shura Poppe (Tulsa) def. Tiffany Hollebeck (SMU) |
6-3, 6-3 |
|
|
|
|
DOUBLES (order of finish: 3, 2, 1) |
|
| 1. |
Ksenia Laskutova/Martha Matoula (Tulsa) def. Karina Traxler/Sarai Monarrez Yesaki (SMU) |
7-5 |
| 2. |
Tiffany Hollebeck/Anzhelika Shapovalova (SMU) def. Vera Ploner/Shura Poppe (Tulsa) |
6-4 |
| 3. |
Tamara Kupkova/Rouxanne Janse van Rensburg (Tulsa) def. Liza Buss/Ana Perez-Lopez (SMU) |
6-0 |
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
April 18-21 | Dallas Texas
| First Round | Wednesday, April 18 |
|
| Match 1: No. 6 Houston 4, No. 11 UConn 0 |
|
| Match 2: No. 7 Memphis 4, No. 10 Cincinnati 1 |
|
| Match 3: No. 9 Tulane 4, No. 8 ECU 3 |
|
| Match 4: No. 5 SMU 4, No. 12 Temple 0 |
|
|
|
| Quarterfinals | Thursday, April 19 |
|
| Match 5: No. 1 UCF 4, Tulane 1 |
|
| Match 6: SMU 4, No. 4 USF 2 |
|
| Match 7: No. 3 Wichita State 4, Houston 2 |
|
| Match 8: No. 2 Tulsa 4, Memphis 1 |
|
|
|
| Semifinals | Friday, April 20 |
|
| Match 9: SMU 4, UCF 3 |
|
| Match 10: Tulsa 4, Wichita State 2 |
|
|
|
| Final | Saturday, April 21 |
|
| Match 11: Tulsa 4, SMU 0 |
|
Most Outstanding Player
Ksenia Laskutova, Tulsa
all times Central