Iowa State Falls to OSU in Big 12 Championship

Thursday, April 29

Austin, Texas

1:30 PM

Iowa State

Oklahoma State (Big 12 Championships)

Iowa State Falls to OSU in Big 12 Championship

04.29.2010 | Tennis

By: cyclones.com

AUSTIN, Texas- The Iowa State tennis team finished its season Thursday afternoon, falling 4-1 to the No. 7 seed Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championships. The Cyclones finished their season with a 9-15 overall record and 2-9 mark in the conference.

Maria Macedo and Tessa Lang defeated Nataliya Shatkovskaya and Alisa Buslaieva, 8-4, in No. 1 doubles. Erin Karonis and Jenna Langhorst fell, 8-5, to Sasha Belova and Sarah Meghoufel as Alyssa Palen and Liza Wischer dropped, 8-3, to Malika Rose and Leyla Simmons.

"Maria and Tessa did a great job coming in and took care of their court in doubles," ISU head coach Armando Espinosa said. "The other two slots started out better than we did last time, but they didn't continue with the same intensity and began making mental mistakes that ultimately cost us the matches (and the doubles point)."

Karonis picked up the Cyclones' only win of the day with a 6-3, 6-3 decision over Shatkovskaya in the No. 1 singles slot.

In the No. 2 slot, Macedo dropped, 6-2, 6-2, to Sasha Belova as Langhorst fell, 7-5, 6-1, to Meghoufel. In the No. 5 slot, Rose defeated Marie-Christine Chartier, 6-1, 6-4, to clinch the match in the Cowgirls' favor.

"Overall I am pretty happy with our perfomance," Espinosa said. "When the match is on the line and momentum is such a key piece, we need to learn to manage it better. If we would have won a couple of more points a little faster, the Cowgirls would have been a little bit more frustrated and would have played a little more tightly."

When play was suspended, Wischer was close to clinching the Cyclones' second point, leading Alexandra Cristello, 6-4, 5-3. Lang fell, 6-4, to Buslaieva in her first set before fighting back to win the second, 6-3, but play was stopped with Lang trailing 1-0 in the third set.

"We are looking forward to next season," Espinosa said. "We are going to add some new talent and it will be exciting to see what Jenna can do as a sophomore. This season, we've seen a lot of girls really improve in their second year. If Erin, Maria and Liza can continue to compete like they have, we are going to be competitive once again."

Doubles Results
No. 1 Maria Macedo/Tessa Lang (ISU) def. Nataliya Shatkovskaya/Alisa Buslaieva (OSU) 8-4
No. 2 Sasha Belova/Sarah Meghoufel (OSU) def. Erin Karonis/Jenna Langhorst (ISU) 8-5
No. 3 Malika Rose/Leyla Simmons (OSU) def. Alyssa Palen/Liza Wischer (ISU) 8-3

Singles Results
No. 1 Erin Karonis (ISU) def. Nataliya Shatkovskaya (OSU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 Sasha Belova (OSU) def. Maria Macedo (ISU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 Alisa Buslaieva (OSU) led Tessa Lang (ISU) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 DNF
No. 4 Sarah Meghoufel (OSU) def. Jenna Langhorst (ISU) 7-5, 6-1
No. 5 Malika Rose (OSU) def. Marie-Christine Chartier (ISU) 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 Liza Wischer (ISU) led Alexandra Cristello (OSU) 6-4, 5-3 DNF