Cowgirl Tennis sweeps Fairfield, SMU, advances to Super Regionals

May 5—Oklahoma State advancing to the Sweet 16 for the sixth time in program history, in coach Chris Young's opinion, should have been more appreciated.

"I feel like maybe people are taking this team a little bit too much for granted," Young said. "I think today everybody just thought it was gonna be easy. It's never easy."

If that is indeed what everybody thought, that's the No. 1 Cowgirls' own fault. They made it look easy this past weekend, sweeping Fairfield Saturday and SMU Sunday at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

And if the crowd may take for granted a Super Regional win over Tennessee this upcoming Saturday, as well, because the Cowgirls (29-0) are inarguably the best team in the country. The only question that matters is whether or not they become the first women's NCAA-sanctioned team in school history to win a national championship.

OSU was largely unchallenged in the first two rounds of the NCAA Championships.

The Cowgirls won their four doubles matches by a combined score of 20-2 and have won 19 of the 20 finished singles sets.

On Sunday, Ange Oby Kajuru and Anastasiya Komar trailed 3-4 in their doubles match, and Komar was the only Cowgirl to lose a set in singles competition. Otherwise, it was a relatively quick weekend.

"We have so many ways that we can win and I think we've shown that all season long," Young said. "These kids need to be able to struggle and find a way."

No. 46 Lucia Peyre clinched Sunday's match in defeating Hadley Doyle 6-3, 6-0.

She believes her play improves as the moment gets bigger.

"I think I played my best tennis during the Big 12 tournament and also (at the ITA Indoor Championship," Peyre said.

Still, she preceded Young in challenging fans for a larger turnout in the later rounds.

"Compared to last year, there's a lot more people coming here for our matches, and that's really nice," Peyre said. "I hope there's more people coming next weekend. That's something very important for us."

Ayumi Miayamoto echoed that sentiment.

"It helps us a lot to be more energetic during the match," she said.

Miyamoto, in her fifth year at Oklahoma State, has never taken this team for granted.

She came back for one more season because she believed the team could be special.

"We are really connected," Miyamoto said. "Every match can be the last match for us, so we really try to enjoy every moment we have."

The Cowgirls will now host Tennessee at 3 p.m. Saturday in a Super Regional before the Greenwood Tennis Center hosts the national tournament — effectively the elite eight for both women's and men's teams.

----------

Fairfield match results

Singles competition

No. 18 Anastasiya Komar (OSU) def. Sarah Liu (FFD), 6-0, 6-0

No. 46 Lucia Peyre (OSU) vs. Katerina Plumtree (FFD), 6-0, 3-2, unfinished

No. 72 Safiya Carrington (OSU) vs. Nicolette Loeffler (FFD), 6-1, 5-4, unfinished

No. 84 Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU) def. Francesca Karman (FFD), 6-0, 6-0

Kristina Novak (OSU) Lily Malinowski (FFD), 6-1, 5-1, unfinished

Raquel Gonzalez (OSU) Maeve Cassidy (FFD), 6-2, 6-0

Doubles competition

No. 3 Anastasiya Komar and Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) def. Maeve Cassidy and Sarah Liu (FFD), 6-0

Ayumi Miyamoto and Raquel Gonzalez (OSU) def. Francesca Karman and Lily Malinowski (FFD), 6-0

Kristina Novak and Safiya Carrington (OSU) vs. Laina Campos and Nicolette Loeffler (FFD), 4-2, unfinished

SMU match results

Singles competition

No. 18 Anastasiya Komar (OSU) vs. Taylor Johnson (SMU) 6-2, 4-6, unfinished

No. 3 Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) def. Drew Morris (SMU) 7-5, 6-1

No. 46 Lucia Peyre (OSU) def. Hadley Morris (SMU) 6-3, 6-0

No. 72 Safiya Carrington (OSU) vs. Lana Mavor (SMU) 6-0, 6-6, unfinished

No. 84 Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU) def. Millie Skelton (SMU) 6-0, 6-1

Kristina Novak (OSU) vs. Caroline McGinley (SMU) 6-4, 2-5, unfinished

Doubles competition

No. 3 Anastasiya Komar and Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) vs. No. 45 Lana Mavor and Taylor Johnson (SMU) 3-4, unfinished

Ayumi Miyamoto and Raquel Gonzalez (OSU) def. Hadley Doyle and Drew Morris (SMU) 6-2

Kristina Novak and Safiya Carrington (OSU) def. Millie Skelton and Caroline McGinley (SMU) 6-0