What has already been a great story has now morphed into something on a mythical level after the local favorite Oklahoma State Cowgirls stunned top ranked California 4-3. The Cowgirls started the match off the same way they have started all but one of them off and that was with the doubles point in their back pocket. OSU won the doubles point for the 31st time in 32 matches after picking up a 6-0 win at No. 3 and a 6-2 win at No. 2.
Cal bounced back in singles by taking opening sets at 2, 3, 5, and 6 while OSU claimed sets at 1 and 4. Cal sophomore Karla Popovic tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Carla Tur Mari at No 6 and Tulsa native Olivia Hauger put the Bears ahead with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 5.
Oklahoma State senior Kelsey Laurente tied the match at 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Denise Starr and then junior Katarina Adamovic made it 3-2 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Maegan Manasse at No. 1. Cal senior Klara Fabikova would tie the match at 3-3 with a 6-3, 7-6(6) win over Vladica Babic at No. 2
.@CalWomensTennis takes 2 and we’re all tied up w/ 3 to decide it! @CalWomensTennis (3) v. @CowgirlTennis (3) pic.twitter.com/Vy5GWppE8CNCAA Tennis (@NCAATennis) May 23, 2016
The match would be decided in a third set at No. 3 between Oklahoma State junior Viktoriya Lushkova and Cal junior Lynn Chi. Lushkova came into the match with a 23-1 dual-match record while Chi, who played in the finals of the NCAA Singles Championship two years ago, came in with a 17-2 dual-match record. The third set was on serve through the first four service games then Lushkova broke for 3-2 and held for 4-2. She would break again for 5-2 and would then serve it out from 40-15 to set off a wild celebration. Here is match point from a few different angles – people were standing three and four deep so it was tough to get a great angle.
WATCH: The moment @CowgirlTennis advanced to the #NCAATennis Championship! pic.twitter.com/9Otdz72lVONCAA Tennis (@NCAATennis) May 23, 2016
Oklahoma State stuns #1 Cal 4-3 pic.twitter.com/eWyiRyGYoKBobby Knight (@College10s2day) May 23, 2016
BOOM! HELLO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH!! pic.twitter.com/Mie0MK1v8wOSU Women’s Tennis (@CowgirlTennis) May 23, 2016
Oklahoma State had never made it past the Round of 16 prior to this year but here they are in the finals of the NCAA Championship.
#12 Oklahoma State (29-4) def. #1 California (23-2), 4-3
Michael D. Case Tennis Center 10 a.m.
Head Coaches: Amanda Augustus (California) and Chris Young (Oklahoma State)
Doubles
1. #4 Maegan Manasse/Denise Starr (Cal) vs. #43 Maria Alvarez/Kelsey Laurente (OSU), 5-2 DNF
2. #54 Viktoriya Lushkova/Carla Tur Mari (OSU) def. #90 Klara Fabikova/Olivia Hauger (Cal), 6-2
3. #79 Katarina Adamovic/Vladica Babic (OSU) def. Lynn Chi/Maria Smith (Cal), 6-0
Order of Finish: 3, 2
Singles
1. 47 Katarina Adamovic (Oklahoma State) def. #7 Maegan Manasse (California), 6-4, 6-2
2. #16 Klara Fabikova (California) def. #44 Vladica Babic (Oklahoma State), 6-3, 7-6 (6)
3. #66 Viktoriya Lushkova (Oklahoma State) def. #80 Lynn Chi (California), 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
4. Kelsey Laurente (Oklahoma State) def. #88 Denise Starr (California), 6-4, 6-3
5. Olivia Hauger (California) def. Katarina Stresnakova (Oklahoma State), 6-2, 6-4
6. Karla Popovic (Calif
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 4, 1, 2, 3
Oklahoma State Head Coach Chris Young
On his team’s win and how playing in the championship sounds…
“It sounds awesome. I can’t believe it. I’m so blessed. I just feel like God is watching over this program and giving us opportunities to do something special. We talked about last time, Oklahoma State has never won a women’s national championship in any sport, although we’ve won as many national championships as just about anyone in the country. That’s been something I wanted to bring to Oklahoma State since Day 1. I knew we had the potential with these girls to do it, and they’re showing everybody that they’re definitely capable.
On what he told his team after the match…
“I’m still at a loss for words. There’s not much to say. These girls know, after all they’ve been through this season, everything we’ve overcome, they know how proud I am of them. I don’t think I really have to say anything. I think they can see it on my face and know what this means. You get to this point in the journey, and I don’t really think you have to say a lot. Everybody just knows. I think that’s important.
On the resiliency of the players to fight back…
“We talk about all the time that we’ve overcome a lot. That’s our theme for this whole tournament, is overcome. We had to overcome a lot. We had to overcome a great Cal team. They didn’t play maybe as well as they wanted to in doubles, and they came out in singles and you look up at the board and say, Wow, this is not good. But at the same time, I still trusted our girls. I was never worried that (Viktoriya) Lushkova was going to lose the match, and I thought (Vladica) Babic was going to turn hers around. For Kat (Katarina Adamovic) and for Kelsey (Laurente) to get those two points, once those were in the bank, I knew we were good to go.
On winning the doubles point again today…
“The doubles point was huge. I thought at 2 and 3 … honestly I think we just did what we’ve been doing. I don’t think the girls did anything special. I don’t want to take away from them, but I thought they just played solid tennis. I think we’re playing doubles at a high level. I knew we needed to get that point obviously we did with the way the score ended up, but you get that one point and our lineup is pretty strong. At the top right now, our girls are playing as good as anybody. When we get that doubles point, it puts a lot of pressure on teams at the top of the lineup to be able to get three wins.
On his confidence in Viktoriya Lushkova’s play…
“No one is going to beat Viktoriya right now. That’s just a fact. The thing about Viktoriya is, she’s had it so easy. She’s the first one off the court. I kind of joked with her after the first set, I said, Today is your day to go to the interview room, because you get to be the last one on the court.’ Because she is the first one. That’s why I wanted to bring Kat in here as well. I think sometimes when people are doing things easy, it can go unnoticed. I don’t think Viktoriya should ever go unnoticed in our program. A lot of things that she’s done, taking the role that she did of moving to #3 this year, is oneof the reasons why we are where we are. Because we have the doubles point, and we have Lushkova 98 percent of the time. So, when you’re up 2-0, it’s tough for anybody to get four out of five points. I just think that it’s a different person everyday, but Viktoriya has been the most consistent throughout this season, and with match on the line, she’s as tough as anybody. She’s been that way since Day 1. She has no fear. The girls give her a hard time because she just keeps going for it, but that’s what makes her special. Lynn Chi is a girl that made the singles final two years ago, one of the best players in college tennis. It’s a heavyweight battle. At the end of the day, I’ll take Viki every time.
On Lushkova’s mindset after losing the first set…
“When Viki came back from walking out of the bathroom break, she was smiling. Honestly, Viki doesn’t smile that much during the match. I was like, all right, this is good.
On the emotions of making it to the finals, and what it means for the program…
“I can’t tell you what it means to this program. It’s unbelievable. I mean, we’re Oklahoma State, and we’re taking out Georgia and Cal, and teams that people just don’t expect us to. I think we’ve been the only ones that believed this is possible all year. I just hope that we give hope to other people. Vandy (Vanderbilt) gave us a lot of hope last year, to be perfectly honest. I mean, we beat them during the regular season, and we saw them get hot and go on a run, and it’s like, why can’t that be us? I told the girls all season long, we’re this year’s Vanderbilt. We’re doing the same things that they did. I think that breaking barriers down is the hardest thing to do in sports, because sports is lined up for certain teams, whether it’s professional or college, to be successful. Everybody is supposed to go to these teams, to sign with these teams. To break those barriers down, you have to have special kids. That’s what we have. To look up there and to see the crowd support that we have, it’s amazing. We have just amazing support. Oklahoma State is a special place, and we’re just all very fortunate to be there.
On the turning point in the season when he knew his team could go all the way…
“We had a moment in spring break, where we just had some good discussions about what our team needed to do if we wanted to go all the way. I told the girls, we can go all the way, but you guys have to make it happen. We have to focus. We kind of drew a line, and said we’re starting over. Since that time, I think we’ve won 18 matches in a row. Honestly, I knew this team was capable that next weekend when we started Big 12 play. Even though it was West Virginia and Iowa State, we said that we were going to start over, and we were going to send a message of what Oklahoma State is really all about. Each girl talked about what message they wanted to send, and what they were going to do. Since that time, we’ve just played really well. It’s never been a lack of talent. I think it’s just a matter of belief, because we’re doing something that’s never been done before. It’s just natural that you have to overcome that mental barrier. As we started building and the girls started seeing it, and as we went on the road and we beat teams like Baylor and Texas, which we hadn’t done before, the girls were starting to see, this year is different. The more that those things start to happen, the more you start to realize that something special is happening here. We’ve had a lot of adversity, I think, behind the scenes, different things to overcome. I think we’ve had a lot of pressure, hosting the Big 12 tournament for the first time at our facility. There’s a lot of pressure to host it well, and to win it. For this group to get back to the Sweet 16, and just dealing with those things, once we got here, we just felt free. It’s like, let’s just have fun with it. I think we’re a dangerous team right now, because we’re so confident, and these girls are confident. It’s going to be a great match tomorrow.
Viktoriya Lushkova, Oklahoma State (#3 singles)
On her mindset after losing the first set…
“I was kind of not surprised. We had several games in close grasp, but then she’d put one down the line. She had amazing shots that I couldn’t even get to, and so I thought I will have to try my shots and take my chances in the second set and see how that goes.
On her restroom break…
“It was funny. I went to the restroom and Katie (Adamovic) and Karla (Popovic) were in there and I was glad we could meet each other during the match. Then we decided that we were going to battle back and win the second sets. That just kind of made us all laugh, and I feel like we started playing a little bit better.
On what it means to be here…
“I agree with Kat. Nobody out there really gives us much respect. When we went into this tournament my only hope was that we could go as far as possible just to prove people wrong. We are a good program and we can do something special. I think we are on the way to do something that nobody has done before.
Katarina Adamovic, Oklahoma State (#1 singles)
On her play today…
“I tried to stay focused on my match. I believe that the girls would come back, and I always trust Viky. When we were all standing there when it was done I said there is nobody I can trust more than Viky. She has clinched so many big matches for us, and I had to trust the girls from the beginning.
On what she was thinking after she made the score 3-2…
“It was a good match for me. I saw Valdica battle in there for the tie break, and so I ran to her court to support her just to stay in it. Viky was up 3-2 in that moment, and so I knew that she had it.
On what the key was in the first set…
“If I recall correctly it was 4-3 and 40-15, and I missed some shots I shouldn’t. I just stayed focused, and I knew what I had to do. I just played each point and stayed focused. It was good.
On what it means to be here…
“I remember since the day I came they (critics) have tried to put us down. We won the Big 12 conference and the tournament, and they say that we have a weak Big 12 conference. They also said we have missing components, and they always try to put us down because we are from Oklahoma State. I know that all nine players on our team have hearts, and we just keep proving them wrong. That’s what this means to us as we continue to prove people wrong, and we are not done yet. Just to add, the Big 12 had three teams reach the Round of 16 this year.
California Head Coach Amanda Augustus
Comments on the match…
“Gosh what a match. Oklahoma State really came out strong in doubles on a couple of courts, we didn’t quite make adjustments soon enough. I thought we played fantastic on court #1. But, we just couldn’t quite turnaround games in doubles. I thought in singles, we were looking quite good. Oklahoma State really kind of raised their level on a couple of courts when they needed to. We fought as hard as we could. I’m super proud of my team for the season they’ve had. Oklahoma State is having heck of a tournament. I think they’re feeling good, and I thought they battled really hard. Someone wasn’t going to win that match today, that’s what this point of the tournament is about. I’m proud of what we did this season, winning a National Championship (National Team Indoor Championships) and making the final four here is a great season. So, I’m really proud of our team.
No relation
Is California's Maegan Manasse related to Oklahoma State's asst coach Matt Manasse?
The "best" team is the one that wins the big matches when it's the grand stage and the pressure is on. Stanford has now won 13 of its last 15 NCAA matches when seeded lower than its opponent. Really good teams know how to fight through adversity.
It looks like the weather is soon clearing. Is the last match to be played outdoors?
This is true but then again, I spent time in Oklahoma and I noticed the OSU people walked around offended and usually mad at OU people.<br /><br />I must say I am impressed with the OSU season. I did not expect that.<br /><br />
There was a remote chance both men's and women's champions would come from the same university. That is no longer possible. In the era of dual championships, only Cal, UCLA and USC have had both men and women in the semifinals in the same year. I believe UCLA has done it twice. USC and Cal have done it once.
Thanks for noticing – not sure how I left the State out.
YOu know the best team does not always win the championship. That will be the case this year. Most likely it will be Stanford and they are definitely not the best team.
You need to change your by-line to read Oklahoma State instead of Oklahoma. OSU would be offended.