Women's Tennis 5/21/2019 1:00:00 PM Chris Brannick

UCO To Meet Azusa Pacific Wednesday

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The University of Central Oklahoma tennis team makes its return to the NCAA National Championships Round of 16 Wednesday with an 8 a.m. (EST) matchup against Azusa Pacific.

Central Oklahoma, which earned an automatic berth to this year's NCAA Tournament by winning the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Postseason Tournament Championship, takes its 19-4 record into the national round of 16 for the second year in a row. UCO beat Southern Arkansas 4-0 to win the NCAA Central Region I Tournament and get to this point.

"Our goal is to win every match we play and that is no different Wednesday," UCO head coach Jaron Maestas said. "I liked the energy we came out with last week in regionals and we need to do that again against Azusa. We need to come out and set the tone and make them play to our level and to our game."

UCO is led into this week's national finals by a trio of nationally ranked freshman and a sophomore that is also ranked to give the Bronchos one of the deepest teams in the field. And the two that aren't ranked? A senior that is among the winningest Bronchos in school history and another senior with 77 wins in only two seasons at Central.

Adel-Byan Abidullina is one of the freshman making waves at Central Oklahoma. Ranked second in the nation in the ITA's national singles rankings, she has a 22-5 overall record that includes a 16-3 mark in dual matches. Abidullina went 7-0 in the MIAA and has won nine straight overall. She also has a 6-1 record against nationally-ranked competition.

Isabella Dunlap, who before the Round of 16 began was named ITA Rookie of the Year, has a 24-9 record this season and is ranked fifth in the nation. She also has 16 wins in dual competition.

Nikki Boyar has twice cracked the national rankings. The freshman from Texas has a 24-10 record this season in singles matches including a 13-3 mark at the No. 5 spot in the lineup for the Bronchos.

Paola Landin, a sophomore from Los Cabos, Mexico, has a team high 25 wins this season. She is 25-7 and went 15-1 for UCO at the No. 3 spot in the lineup this season. Landin went 21-2 in dual matches.

Kirtana Bhat, a senior from Tucson, Ariz. with 127 career victories, is 12-11 this season. Sarah Van Eeckhoudt has 77 career wins and is 14-12 this season in singles play.

UCO in doubles competition has a 50-17 combined record. Dunlap and Landin have been nationally ranked duo all season and are 18-11 together. Abidullina and Boyar are 11-1 together at No. 2.

Azusa Pacific went 15-8 this season. The Cougars are led by Petra Ivankovic, who is 11-4 in singles play. Mikayla Rinker also has a 9-4 record. Ivankovic is also 11-6 in doubles play. APU has won 40 of 58 doubles matches this season.

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Players Mentioned

Kirtana Bhat: 5' 7"; Senior

Paola Landin: 5' 0"; Sophomore

Sarah Van Eeckhoudt: 6' 0"; Junior

Isabella Dunlap: 5' 2"; Freshman

Nikki Boyar: 5' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Kirtana Bhat
: 5' 7"; Senior

Paola Landin
: 5' 0"; Sophomore

Sarah Van Eeckhoudt
: 6' 0"; Junior

Isabella Dunlap
: 5' 2"; Freshman

Nikki Boyar
: 5' 2"; Freshman