If you walked through Stillwater, Oklahoma, twenty years ago and asked for directions to a national championship-caliber tennis facility, you might have gotten a confused look. It’s a wrestling town. A golf town. Definitely a football town. But lately, the conversation has shifted. Oklahoma State women's tennis isn't just a competitive program anymore; it’s a terrifying fixture on the national stage that makes elite coastal programs very, very nervous.
Honestly, the rise of the Cowgirls under head coach Chris Young is one of those "how did they do that?" stories in college athletics. It wasn't about a single lucky recruit. It was a slow-burn transformation. It’s basically what happens when you combine world-class facilities with a coaching staff that refuses to accept the "mid-country" underdog narrative.
The 2024 Rollercoaster and the "Vacated" Tag
You can't talk about the current state of the program without acknowledging the elephant in the room. The 2024 season was statistically the most dominant run in the history of the sport at OSU. They went 29-1. They climbed to No. 1 in the ITA rankings for the first time ever. They won the ITA National Team Indoor Championship by taking down Michigan in a 4-3 thriller that people in Stillwater still talk about like it was a Super Bowl.
Then, the NCAA did its thing.
In July 2025, a ruling came down regarding recruiting violations. The 2024 Indoor title and the Big 12 regular-season title were "vacated." If you’re a fan, that word feels like a punch in the gut. But here’s the thing: you can take the trophy out of the case, but you can’t take the performance off the court. The players who won those matches—names like Ange Oby Kajuru and Anastasiya Komar—proved that Oklahoma State could out-grind and out-skill anyone in the country.
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Why the Greenwood Tennis Center Changed Everything
Before 2014, the Cowgirls were playing on courts that, quite frankly, didn't match their ambition. Then came the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center.
It is a 50,000-square-foot beast.
The USTA once called it one of the top two collegiate facilities in the entire United States. It has six indoor courts, twelve outdoor courts, and a hydrotherapy center that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. It changed recruiting forever. Suddenly, Chris Young wasn't just selling a "vision" to top international recruits; he was showing them a home that rivaled anything they’d see at Florida, Stanford, or UCLA.
Recruiting at OSU is a global game. Just look at the 2025-26 roster. You have Anastasiya Komar from Belarus, Lucia Peyre from Argentina, Melisa Ercan from Turkey, and Rose Marie Nijkamp from the Netherlands. This isn't just a local team; it’s a mini-United Nations in orange and black.
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The Chris Young Factor
Chris Young is a Norman native, which makes his dominance in Stillwater a little poetic. Since taking over in 2010, he has turned the program into a factory for All-Americans. We're talking about 12 straight NCAA tournament appearances. He’s the kind of coach who stays after practice to work on a specific slice backhand but also has the business savvy to help fundraise for a multi-million dollar complex.
Under his watch, players like Viktoriya Lushkova became the program's first three-time All-Americans. More recently, Komar and Nijkamp picked up All-American honors in 2025. Young’s strategy is simple: find players with a high "tennis IQ" and put them in an environment where they have zero excuses to fail.
The Current 2026 Outlook
Heading into the 2026 spring season, the Cowgirls are sitting at No. 10 in the ITA Preseason Rankings. They are also the favorites to win the Big 12.
The schedule is brutal, as usual.
On March 14, they host Kansas State.
On April 10, Kansas comes to town.
By May 1, they’ll likely be hosting the NCAA First and Second Rounds at the Greenwood Center.
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The Big 12 is deeper than it used to be. With the addition of teams like Arizona and UCF, there are no "easy" weekends. The Cowgirls’ 2025 season saw them reach the Round of 16 after knocking off in-state rival Oklahoma, and the goal for 2026 is clearly to push back into the Elite Eight and beyond.
What Most People Get Wrong About Cowgirl Tennis
People think it's all about the money and the building. It isn't. You can have a shiny stadium and still lose every match. What makes Oklahoma State women's tennis different is the "Stillwater atmosphere."
If you go to a match at the Greenwood Center, it’s loud. It’s rowdy. It feels more like a basketball game than a traditional "quiet please" tennis environment. That home-court advantage is real. Visiting teams often struggle with the altitude, the wind, and a crowd that actually knows how to cheer for a deuce-point.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Aspiring Players
If you’re following the program or looking to get involved in high-level collegiate tennis, here is the reality of the landscape:
- Watch the rankings, but don't obsess over them. The ITA rankings fluctuate weekly. What matters is the "SLAM Rating" and the strength of schedule. OSU intentionally plays one of the hardest schedules in the country to prepare for May.
- Understand the "Vacated" status. When you see an asterisk next to 2024, know that the program is on a three-year probation. This affects administrative records but hasn't slowed down their ability to recruit top-tier talent.
- Attend a match in person. If you're anywhere near Oklahoma, the Greenwood Center is the gold standard for spectator tennis. The indoor matches in February are especially intense because of the proximity of the fans to the courts.
- Follow the international pipeline. If you’re a junior player, notice that OSU looks for "complete" players. They don't just want big hitters; they want athletes who can handle the transition from the European clay-court style to the American hard-court grind.
The 2026 season is basically a redemption tour. The trophies might have been taken away on paper, but the talent is very much still in Stillwater. Keep an eye on the doubles pair of Komar and Nijkamp; they are arguably the most cohesive duo in the conference right now. The road to the national championship still runs through Oklahoma.
To stay updated on the latest scores and match times, check the official Oklahoma State Athletics site or follow the ITA live scoring updates during the Big 12 season. If you're a local, mark your calendar for the NCAA Regionals in May—Stillwater is almost certain to be a host site again.