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OSU Women's Tennis Falls in National Championship

The Cowgirls had the 17-time National Champions on the ropes, until they didn't.

Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

What a run it was for the Oklahoma State Women's Tennis team. After knocking off 1st-ranked Cal in yesterday's national semifinal, the Cowgirls met Stanford, a 17-time national champion.

The Cowgirls earned a point over Stanford in doubles to take an early 1-0 lead. They would need just three match wins in singles to bring home the national championship.

Katarina Adamovic took down Stanford's Carol Zhao 6-4 and 7-5 in straight sets, giving the Cowgirls a 2-1 lead.

Viktoriya Lushkova then won her match 4-6, 6-4, and 4-1 to give the Cowgirls a 3-1 lead.

The Cowgirls would need just one more match victory to win it all, but could not get it. It all came down to Vladica Babic on Court 2, as Stanford made a valiant comeback to tie the match at 3-3. Babic was down 5-2 at one point in the match, but made a valiant comeback of her own to tie it at 5-5. A double fault at 5-5 would send Babic to a make-or-break match point. In the end, Babic fell 7-5, and Stanford won their 18th national championship.

This was a cinderella story of sorts for the Cowgirls. Not many expected a run at the championship, and it would've been impossible for the Cowgirls to get any closer to it. All in all, this was a valiant effort from the Cowgirls against a perennial heavyweight in the world of collegiate tennis.