OSU Tennis: Cowgirls Beat Michigan 4-3 to Win ITA Indoor National Title

The Cowgirls were in Seattle this weekend taking part in a competitive field at the ITA Indoor National Championships, and they’ll return to Stillwater with some hardware and still unbeaten on the season.

Oklahoma State bested Michigan 4-3 in the finals on Monday. After OSU roared to a 3-0 start, the Wolverines fought back to tie it at 3. It all came down to OSU redshirt sophomore Anastasiya Komar vs. Michigan senior Kari Miller.

Miller beat Komar 6-4 in the first set before Komar returned the favor with a 6-4 win in the second set. Then Komar sealed it with a 6-4 win in the tournament-deciding third set.

“For the first time in program history, @CowgirlTennis are your Indoor National Champions! They are a team of destiny as they will host NCAAs in May.” –@AlGruskin

“Incredible season so far for the Cowgirls at 9-0 & to come out on top at the pinnacle of college tennis!”-@WHSVPeri pic.twitter.com/QiytRoffuT

— Cracked Racquets ® (@CrackedRacquets) February 12, 2024

It’s the Cowgirls’ first time winning ITA Nationals. It isn’t, however, an NCAA-sanctioned national title, meaning no banner is coming to GIA — yet. The Cowgirls have a shot to do that later this spring, as the Greenwood Tennis Center hosts the NCAA Championships from May 16-19.

For those unfamiliar with how college tennis scoring works, they start with a doubles point with three doubles matches going on simultaneously. Win two doubles matches, and you secure the one doubles point. The Cowgirls did that Monday, with the duos of Komar and Ange Oby Kajuru winning their match 6-2 and Ayumi Miyamoto and Raquel Gonzalez winning 6-3.

From there, there are six singles matches going on simultaneously with each match worth a team point.

Kajuru got the Cowgirls off to a strong start in singles, winning her match 6-0, 6-1. Kristiana Novak followed suit with a 6-2, 6-4 win to put the Cowgirls up 3-0. But then here came the Wolverines.

Miyamoto fell 6-3, 6-2 to give Michigan its first point of the day before Gala Mesochoritou and Jaedan Brown each won for the Wolverines to tie it at 3 setting up the Komar-Miller decider.

The Cowgirls entered the weekend as the No. 3 team in the country, per the ITA’s rankings, with Michigan at No. 5. En route to the title, OSU also beat No. 14 Auburn, No. 6 Texas and No. 2 Stanford. No. 1 North Carolina was upset in the quarterfinals by No. 7 NC State before the Wolfpack fell to Michigan in the semis.

The college tennis season is far from over, as the 9-0 Cowgirls next head to Tempe to play No. 24 Arizona State on Saturday. Then comes a string of three straight home events as the Cowgirls host Princeton (Feb. 24), Kansas (March 1) and Iowa State (March 3).