FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ Yuliya Lysa will take on Tulsa’s Saana Saarteinen today in the first round of the NCAA women’s tennis singles bracket at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa.
A senior from Kiev, Ukraine, Lysa is ranked No. 21 heading into the championships while Saarteinen, of Tampere, Finland, is ranked No. 86.
The two have played twice this season. Saarteinen took a 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 victory in the quarterfinals of the ITA Central Regional Championship in Stillwater, Okla., on Oct. 15. Lysa was ahead of Saarteinen by a score of 7-6, 4-2 when the Golden Hurricane clinched their first-round match at the NCAA Stillwater Regional on May 13.
Lysa, a left-hander who missed seven matches while recovering from a broken left arm, posted a 13-6 dual match record, including a 9-4 mark at No. 1 singles, and defeated four top 25 players this spring.