NORMAN, Okla. — History engulfs the University of Oklahoma’s campus, from its towering monuments of Heisman Trophy winners to the tiles that lead to Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium’s north entrance.

It’s a built-in recruiting tool for all OU coaches, who can juxtapose one of college football’s finest cathedrals with the engraved stepping stones that celebrate national championships won by former Sooners across all sports.

Oklahoma women’s tennis coach Audra Cohen arrived in Norman in 2016 without much tradition to point to among the past teams that have achieved their sports’ ultimate prize.

Before OU’s 2022 season, the university’s women’s tennis program had not won a conference championship since 1980 and perennially finished in the middle of the Big 12 team standings before Cohen accepted the OU job as a former tennis star and only one other head coaching job to her resume.

It’s been six seasons in the making, but Cohen’s staff is rewriting the Sooners’ legacy.

OU women’s tennis is the No. 2 overall seed in this year’s NCAA tournament and will compete at 7 p.m. Friday1 in the Elite Eight — a first for the program.

Oklahoma (30-2, 9-0 Big 12) will face SEC champion Texas A&M (33-1, 13-0 SEC), a team that's consistently made it to the Sweet 16 round and beyond over the last decade, in Champaign, Illinois.

For the Sooners to finally make women’s tennis’ Final Four and inch closer to adding a championship tile of their own, Cohen says preserving trust in what OU’s already accomplished will be essential to her historic group.

“We don't know how good Texas A&M is going to be that day, but we can assume that they're going to be great,” Cohen said. “We're going to be the underdog heading in there. We've got to step it up at every single position, and really be absolutely fearless the whole way.”