Women's Tennis 2/5/2026 9:00:00 PM Chris Brannick

UCO Loses Opener Against No. 18 UT Tyler

EDMOND – Central Oklahoma suffered a 5-2 setback against No. 18 UT Tyler Thursday afternoon in the season opener at Broncho Courts.

UCO won the doubles point with wins at the top two positions but only found one win in singles play at the Patriots from Texas pulled away.

Central is back on the courts at 1 p.m. Friday to take on Southwest Baptist. The Bronchos are playing three matches in four days with a trip Sunday to Arkansas Tech to wrap up the busy opening weekend.

"We pushed them at a few spots in the lineup but didn't have enough overall," UCO head women's tennis coach Joe Vann said. "I liked what I saw from our doubles play today. Those wins were important so it was good to win that."

Pete Komada and Mei Hasegawa played No. 1 Doubles and won 7-5 over Yona Bancarel and Natalia Gorzny. The UT Tyler duo was ranked No. 7 in the country. Komada with teammate Ayaka Koga is the No. 13 doubles team in the country. Thursday was the first match at UCO for Hasegawa, who transferred at the semester.

Koga played Thursday with Anika Ouwejan. The dou of juniors won 6-2 over Carla Rodier and Claudia Di Leonardo. Koga and Ouwejan went 5-3 together as sophomore's last season.

Milana Quick and Hui Soo played No. 3 doubles and lost 6-1. That result came first and Koga and Ouwejan made it 1-1 for the doubles point. That setup the showdown of highly ranked players at the No. 1 spot and Komada, an All-American last year, with the newcomer Hasegawa got the point for the Bronchos.

In singles play, Ouwejan went down first 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 3 position. Dilay Ata played No. 5 singles and she lost 6-4, 6-1 to put the Bronchos in a 3-0 deficit in the match. A 6-3, 6-4 win by Tyler at No. 6 over Soo gave the visiting Patriots the match.

Komada is ranked 15th in Division II and she got UCO's lone singles point at No. 2, winning 7-5, 6-4. In the final match, Hasegawa pushed No. 26 Bancarel to three sets. Hasegawa won the first set 6-4 but lost by the same score in the second. She pushed the ranked opponent all the way to 7-5 in a tough debut loss.

The Bronchos play Southwest Baptist Friday and go to Arkansas Tech Sunday, then its three-straight at home in February. UCO hosts Ouachita Baptist Feb. 13, Southeastern Oklahoma State Feb. 27, and Colorado State Pueblo Feb. 28 in Edmond.

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Players Mentioned

Ayaka Koga: 5' 3"; Junior

Pete Komada: 5' 5"; Senior

Anika Ouwejan: 5' 7"; Junior

Hui Soo: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Dilay Ata: 5' 4"; Freshman

Milana Quick: 5' 5"; Freshman

Mei Hasegawa: 5' 4"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Ayaka Koga
: 5' 3"; Junior

Pete Komada
: 5' 5"; Senior

Anika Ouwejan
: 5' 7"; Junior

Hui Soo
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Dilay Ata
: 5' 4"; Freshman

Milana Quick
: 5' 5"; Freshman

Mei Hasegawa
: 5' 4"; Sophomore