All-Sports Roundup: Cowgirl Tennis Cruises to Sweet 16

Welcome back to another week highlighting Oklahoma State sports outside of football and basketball. In this week’s coverage, the OSU tennis teams hosted the opening Regional rounds for the NCAA Tournament and the Cowgirl softball team made it to the Big 12 Tournament title game.

Women’s Tennis

A focused and determined Cowgirl Tennis team arrived at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center prepared for the postseason journey that lies ahead. With sweeps of UMKC and No. 19 Arkansas, the ladies are that much closer to returning to their final destination.

In front of loads of fans including new Cowboy Hoops Coach Mike Boynton, the No. 9 Cowgirls completed an unblemished home record and opportunity for more starting May 19th in Athens, Georgia.

Ain't it sweet? Athens, here we come! #okstate pic.twitter.com/gu7xGnMOIH

— OSU Women's Tennis (@CowgirlTennis) May 14, 2017

The Cowgirls will face No. 8 Georgia Tech in the Sweet 16 in Athens, Georgia on May 19th at 7pm. Coach Chris Young is looking forward to facing the ACC Champions next.

“It’s going to be a great battle with them,” Young said. “We played against them three years ago when a lot of these girls who are seniors now were sophomores. We have a lot of girls that have had matchups with them this fall too. Georgia Tech is having an unbelievable season. They won the ACC, they’re well-coached and playing an hour from home, kind of like we did last year. It will be a good test for us.”

The 2017 NCAA Women’s bracket can be viewed here.

Men’s Tennis

A tremendous season for the No. 10 Cowboys ended Saturday in Round 2 as they fell to No. 25 Illinois 4-3 in an absolute heartbreaker.

After going down 3-0, the Illini proceeded to win four consecutive singles matches to edge the Cowboys who were playing in front of their home fans. The loss also ended the collegiate careers of four Cowboy seniors who have been absolutely paramount in the success and chemistry of recent Cowboy squads.

A solemn but hopeful Coach Udwadia spoke to reporters after the game.

The Cowboys are upset by No. 25 Illinois. #okstate ends the season at 22-7. pic.twitter.com/lN44qvWboV

— OSU Cowboy Tennis (@CowboyTennis) May 13, 2017

“I feel bad for our guys right now,” Udwadia said. “They need to keep their heads up though because we had a tremendous season. I’m definitely proud of their effort all year and I’m tremendously proud of our seniors for everything they’ve done for this program. I’m looking forward to our guys returning next season and getting the process going again.”

Cowgirl Softball

An impressive run through the Big 12 Tournament fell just shy for the Cowgirl softball team as they fell to their Bedlam rivals in the finals 2-0. Even with four Bedlam losses in six days, the Cowgirls (35-23) will have their heads held high entering postseason play.

“It’s obviously not the way we wanted this one to end,” head coach Kenny Gajewski said. “I think the most important thing for us is getting in more of the meaningful games at the end. This should give us a little bit of boost for postseason but it hurts. It’s hard to think about that right now.”

Gainesville Regional:
Florida vs. Florida A&M
FIU vs. Oklahoma State pic.twitter.com/Jp2oAOglsB

— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) May 15, 2017

The ladies however earned an NCAA Tournament bid and will be placed in the Gainsville Regional to face Florida International in Round 1. If the ladies win, they will most likely come face to face with the No. 1 team in the land, Florida. The game against Florida International will take place Friday May 19th at 11AM on ESPNU.