Women's Tennis 4/28/2022 8:00:00 AM Chris Brannick

Top-Seeded Bronchos Begin MIAA Championship

EDMOND – Central Oklahoma begins its 2022 postseason trek Friday morning with the MIAA Women's Tennis Championship Quarterfinals at Edmond Center Court.

Regular season champion UCO is the No. 1 seed in the eight-team single elimination tournament. The Bronchos are scheduled to play No. 8 seed Northeastern State Friday at 10 a.m.

"This is what we've been waiting for for a while now," UCO head tennis coach Joe Vann said. "One of our goals was to win conference and we did that. So now we're the top seed in the tournament and now we want to start working on another goal – winning this tournament."

Central Oklahoma won the 2022 MIAA regular season title for the second year in a row. The Bronchos have an 18-game win streak in league play dating back to April of 2019. UCO is 17-1 this season overall and went 8-0 in the MIAA this Spring.

Northeastern State is 5-14 overall this season and the Riverhawks of Tahlequah, Oklahoma posted a 1-7 record in league play.

The two longtime rivals met once this season, with the Bronchos winning 6-1 on March 25 in Edmond. Northeastern scored one of just three points against the Bronchos by any team in the league this season.

Central Oklahoma, which is ranked No. 4 in the country in the latest ITA national rankings, is led by several individuals that are also national rated in either Singles or Doubles, and in most cases, both.

Mae Canete, who is 15-2 this Spring, is ranked No. 3 in the country in the latest ITA Singles Top 75. She is also part of the No. 1 doubles team in the country with her little sister, Christine Canete. The duo is 13-2 this Spring.

Christine Canete is 13-1 in singles competition this season and she is ranked No. 9 in the ITA rankings.

Adel-Byanu Abidullina is ranked 27th nationally and has a 15-0 record in 2022. She is 4-0 playing at the two-spot in the lineup and is 11-0 at the three-spot.

Grace Chadick (12-5), Tizia Brocks (12-5) and Blythe Buntrock (9-3) also bolster the Singles lineup for the Bronchos.

Buntrock, with teammate Nikki Boyar, are ranked No. 49 in the ITA Doubles Top 50 and the duo has a 7-4 record in 2022.

Central Oklahoma is now the back-to-back MIAA regular season champions. The Bronchos entered the year having already won back-to-back MIAA Championship titles. UCO was runners-up in the league in both 2018 and 2019 but won the postseason championship in 2019 for the first time since joining the league in 2012. After no season in 2020, the Bronchos won both the regular season and the postseason titles in 2021.

The four quarterfinal winners from Friday morning's matches will advance to the semifinals, scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. The 2022 MIAA Women's Tennis Championship match is scheduled for Sunday at 10 a.m. at Edmond Center Court.

UCO is also ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA Central Regional rankings. The Bronchos are a candidate to host one of two Central regional tournaments next month.

The 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championships are scheduled for May 17-21 in Altamonte Springs, Florida outside Orlando.

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Players Mentioned

Adel-Byanu Abidullina: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Nikki Boyar: 5' 2"; Sophomore

Blythe Buntrock: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Mae Canete: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Tizia Brocks: 5' 9"; Graduate Student

Christine Canete: 5' 5"; Freshman

Grace Chadick: 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Adel-Byanu Abidullina
: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Nikki Boyar
: 5' 2"; Sophomore

Blythe Buntrock
: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Mae Canete
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Tizia Brocks
: 5' 9"; Graduate Student

Christine Canete
: 5' 5"; Freshman

Grace Chadick
: 5' 6"; Freshman