Tennis Opens with Washburn Saturday

SHAWNEE – The ITA Central Regional Championships, Oct. 1, 2017. That was the last tennis action OBU tennis saw. This Saturday a new season begins when the Bison meet the Washburn Ichabods in Oklahoma City at 1 p.m.
 
While this contest will be OBU's first match of the early 2018 season, it is Washburn's third match, splitting their first two matches after losing to Drury and then defeating McKendree.
 
The Bison enter 2018 ranked 21st according to the latest ITA Division II rankings. The Ichabods come in ranked 19th.
 
Last year at the ITA Central Regional Championships, OBU's David Aguilera and Lucas Branco faced Washburn's Alejandro Valarezo Plaza and Blake Hunter, respectively, in singles, with Branco getting the best of Hunter and Plaza defeating Aguilera.
 
The Washburn duo ended up winning the doubles title in that tournament, defeating the Bison duo along the way.
 
Entering this year, the Bison were voted as pre-season favorites in the Great American Conference. 
 
The Lady Bison are unranked in the national poll, but favored in the preseason to win the GAC.
 
In the last doubles rankings, Kim Moosbacher and Kateryna Shkot were ranked fourth nationally.
 
The Lady Bison finished 27-3 last season. Washburn enters the fray with a 1-1 mark on the year, having lost to Drury, 8-1, before sweeping McKendree 9-0.