Hogs remain unbeaten

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The No. 14 Razorback women’s tennis team moved their record to 5-0 on Friday night after a 5-2 victory over No. 57 Oklahoma State at the Greens Country Club in Oklahoma City. With the win, Arkansas is now on their third best start under current head coach Michael Hegarty and gives Oklahoma State their fourth straight loss in five matches.

The Razorbacks, once again, took advantage of winning the doubles point and winning four of the six singles matches to gain their fifth win of the season. In all five matches, the Hogs have won the doubles point.

“This was quite a gutsy performance from the whole squad, said Hegarty. “Oklahoma State is going to finish a whole chunk higher now that they are full strength and they are a tough team. I was really impressed with out doubles once again also.”

Starting off in doubles, Oklahoma State actually took the first match win at court three, but the Razorbacks rallied on the remaining courts, getting first a win on court two from the team of juniors Kate Lukomskaya and Stephanie Roy. They defeated Sasha Belova and Sarah Meghoufel, 8-4, for their second straight victory. Finally, the tandem of sophomore Claudine Paulson and senior Anouk Tigu won against Kanyapat Narattana and Nataliya Shatkovskaya in a close match 8-6 to stay undefeated as a doubles team this spring at 5-0.

Moving into singles play, the Hogs struck the board first on court four after Emily Carbone won a tiebreaker first set over Narattana, 7-6(4). She then scored a bagel in the second set, 6-0, for the win, her fifth this spring. That win kept Arkansas only two more points away from the overall match win.

Oklahoma State did make a match out of it after winning on court two, but it was Arkansas, who responded right back on court five, scoring the win from Roy, who dropped Shatkovskaya in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. Soon after, the 26th-ranked Tigu would finish off Belova on court one, also in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. That win at the No. 1 position gave Arkansas the 4-1 team victory.

The final two singles matches were played out since it was a non-conference match and the Cowgirls took the win on court six followed by the Razorbacks on court three when Paulson won against Meghoufel in one of the two three setters on the day, 7-5, 5-7, 1-0(10). The win moves Paulson’s spring record to 7-1.

The women’s tennis team will get Saturday off before traveling to Norman, Okla. to face No. 31 Oklahoma on Sunday at the Gregg Wadley Indoor Tennis Pavilion. First serve for the match is set to go up at 1 p.m. and there will be live stats available for the entire match. For all information and updates concerning the Razorback women’s tennis team, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Complete Results for No. 14 Arkansas vs. No. 57 Oklahoma StateNo. 14 Arkansas 5No. 57 Oklahoma State 2Complete Doubles ResultsOrder of Finish: 3, 2, 1*No. 1 Claudine Paulson/Anouk Tigu (ARK) def. Kanyapat Narattana/Nataliya Shatkovskaya (OSU) 8-6No. 2 Kate Lukomskaya/Stephanie Roy (ARK) def. Sasha Belova/Sarah Meghoufel (OSU) 8-4No. 3 Malika Rose/C.C. Sardinha (OSU) def. Jade Frampton/Valentina Starkova (ARK) 8-5Complete Singles ResultsOrder of Finish: 4, 2, 5, 1*, 6, 3No. 1 #26 Anouk Tigu (ARK) def. Sasha Belova (OSU) 6-4, 6-3No. 2 C.C. Sardinha (OSU) def. Kate Lukomskaya (ARK) 6-3, 6-2No. 3 Claudine Paulson (ARK) def. Sarah Meghoufel (OSU) 7-5, 5-7, 1-0(10)No. 4 Emily Carbone (ARK) def. Kanyapat Narattana (OSU) 7-6(4), 6-0No. 5 Stephanie Roy (ARK) def. Nataliya Shatkovskaya (OSU) 6-1, 6-4No. 6 Malika Rose (OSU) def. Kelsey Sundaram (ARK) 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 1-0(8)