ISU Falls to Oklahoma, 6-1

Friday, April 3

Ames, Iowa

6:00 PM

Iowa State

Oklahoma

04.03.2009 | Tennis

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa ? The Iowa State women's tennis team put up a valiant effort, but it was not enough to down Oklahoma. ISU fell 6-1 to the Sooners Friday night at the Ames Racquet and Fitness Center.

At one point, despite trailing 3-0, the Cyclones were ahead in three of the four remaining singles matches and were in the hunt for a win. Iowa State is now 8-9 overall and 1-7 in Big 12 action.

“Hopefully we can keep putting ourselves in that position,” ISU head coach Armando Espinosa said. “If we keep getting there over and over, we will eventually get over the hump. This team hasn't had that many opportunities to be successful. I'm happy we are competing after a few matches in the Big 12, but we don't have to have excuses for not capitalizing. We have to do it. We have to learn to get it done.”

Freshman Tessa Lang got Iowa State's lone point on the board with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Oklahoma's Kristina Radan in singles play.

“Tessa did a great job,” Espinosa said. “It was great to see her comeback and get the win. Hopefully this will give her a little confidence for tomorrow's match.”

Iowa State's Maria Macedo won the first set against Maria Kalashnikova, 7-6, before falling 7-6 and 6-2 in the final two sets. The same things happened to ISU's Liza Wischer and Kara Hickey. Both won the first set before dropping the final two.

Both ISU doubles teams of Erin Karonis and Hickey and Macedo and Marie Chartier mounted comebacks in their matches. Both duos fell behind early, but rallied. Karonis and Hickey came back to tie their match at six, while Macedo and Chartier made it a 6-5 match before the Sooners pulled away. Oklahoma was able to win both matches by 8-6 scores. Iowa State's Wischer and Lang fell 8-2 in the other doubles match.

The Cyclones will return to action Saturday, when they play host to Oklahoma State. The meet will begin at 3:30 p.m. at the Ames Racquet and Fitness Center.

Doubles Results
#1 Ana-Maria Constantinescu/Maria Kalashnikova (OU) def. Erin Karonis/Kara Hickey (ISU) 8-6
#2 Tara Eckel/Marie-Pier Huet (OU) def. Maria Macedo/Marie-Christine Chartier (ISU) 8-6
#3 Peta Maree Lancaster/Kristina Radan (OU) def. Liza Wischer/Tessa Lang (ISU) 8-2

Singles Results
#1 Ana-Maria Constantinescu (OU) def. Erin Karonis (ISU) 6-2, 7-5
#2 Maria Kalashnikova (OU) def. Maria Macedo (ISU) 7-6, 6-7, 6-2
#3 Tessa Lang (ISU) def. Kristina Radan (OU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
#4 Marie-Pier Huet (OU) def. Marie-Christine Chartier (ISU) 6-3, 6-2
#5 Peta Maree Lancaster (OU) def. Liza Wischer (ISU) 6-7, 7-5, 6-2
#6 Brittany Baldy (OU) def. Kara Hickey (ISU) 1-6, 6-4 (1-0)