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Sun Devils Journey to Stillwater for Road Match against No. 22 Oklahoma State

by thesundevils.com
Feb 10, 2022

TEMPE, Ariz. - Coming off a late-January win in Orlando against the UCSB Gauchos, the Sun Devils (4-1) will hit the road for their third consecutive road match as they face the No. 22 Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Saturday, February 12, at 10 a.m. MST, at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater.

After splitting their two matches at the ITA Kickoff Weekend, the Sun Devils have now started the season at 4-1 or better in four of the last five years.

LAST TIME OUT
The Sun Devils finished the ITA Weekend Kickoff with a win over the USCB Gauchos on Saturday, January 29. Doubles partners Marianna Argyrokastriti and Giulia Morlet and Cali Jankowski and Sedona Gallagher took the victory in their respective matches to clinch the lone doubles point. Domenika Turkovic, Sedona Gallagher, and Patricija Spaka won their singles matches against the Gauchos to clinch the 4-1 victory.

Fans can tune into the action via the Oklahoma State live stream or follow along with live stats.

Here's a look at the Cowgirls, led by 12th-year head coach Chris Young.

PREVIEWING THE COWGIRLS (3-1)

  • Oklahoma State University kicked off its season in a season-opening 5-2 win against the Princeton Tigers on January 19.
  • The Cowgirls are No. 22 in the ITA's latest Division I Women's rankings and trending upward, as they're up two spots from their previous ranking. The Cowgirls have held a top-25 ranking since 2014.
  • OSU's only loss so far this season was to No. 11 Ohio State on January 29, with a 4-1 loss in Columbus.
  • The Cowgirls also have a pair of top-ranked singles talents in Oona Orpana (No. 55) and Mananchaya Sawangkaew (No. 86).
  • Entering his 12th season in Stillwater, head coach Chris Young boasts an overall record of 204-97 with the Cowgirls.
  • Last spring, Young led his group to the first round of the NCAA Championships at the Tallahassee regional, in which they were bounced by No. 19 Auburn, 4-2.

RECENT HISTORY VS. THE COWGIRLS
In the last four years, the Sun Devils and Cowgirls have only faced once, a January 26, 2018, tilt where the Sun Devils lost, 4-3, in Stillwater.

RANK 'EM
Senior Domenika Turkovic and freshman Patricija Spaka have teamed up to form a terrific one-two punch on Court 1 in doubles play in the early going of 2022. The pair has begun to earn national recognition, ranked as the nation's No. 60 doubles team in the latest ITA rankings, thanks to a 6-4 win against the No. 43 doubles team in Selin Ovunc and Ariana Arseneault of Auburn on January 29.

SPAK-TACULAR
The Sun Devils' highly-decorated freshman Patricija Spaka has been as advertised through the first five matches of her collegiate career. Spaka has paired her team-best five wins in singles play with a national doubles ranking. After being listed as the nation's No. 2 freshman in the ITA's preseason rankings, the Latvian native has lived up to the billing for Sheila McInerney in the season's infancy.

Spaka is also the first Sun Devil freshman to start her collegiate career 5-0 in singles play through the team's first five matches of the season since Sammi Hampton in 2015-16. Hampton aced the first eight singles matches of her freshman year in the spring of 2016.

GOIN' BACK TO CALI
For much of the off-season, the coaching staff toyed at different lineups and wondered who would slot where in the starting six. A huge boost for McInerney this spring has been senior Cali Jankowski, the only returning player from the 2019 season. She's a perfect 4-0 in singles and 3-0 alongside Sedona Gallagher on Court 3 in doubles play.
 

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