KU Tennis Edged By No. 20 Texas, 6-1

Jan. 27, 2007

LAWRENCE, Kan. — In its Big 12 Conference opener, the University of Kansas tennis team fell, 6-1, to 20th-ranked Texas on Saturday afternoon. KU, which entered the contests ranked No. 59, falls to 1-3, 0-1, while the Longhorns improve to 2-0, 2-0.

The dual started well for the Jayhawks, who had early control in doubles play. Junior Elizaveta Avdeeva and sophomore Edina Horvath improved to 4-0 in doubles action on the season by defeating Texas’ Lancaster and Zauft, 8-4. KU also held solid leads in both the No. 2 and No. 3 contests, but eventually dropped both matches — including the No. 3 match in a tiebreak — surrendering the doubles point to UT.

Avdeeva continued her strong play into the No. 1 singles match against Petra Dizdar, winning the contest after three grueling sets. Avdeeva took the first set, 6-2, but dropped the second in a tiebreak, 6-7 (5), to even the tilt. The Obninsk, Russia, native then won the third set, 6-3, to give Kansas its only point of the afternoon, improving her record to 3-1 this spring.

The Jayhawks were also forced to surrender a point to the Longhorns after sophomore Ksenia Bukina had to retire from her No. 2 singles match.

KU will next be in action when it travels to Winston-Salem, N.C. to take on Syracuse on Feb. 3 and Wake Forest on Feb. 4.

Results

Singles

1) Elizaveta Avdeeva (KU) def. Petra Dizdar (UT), 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3
2) Courtney Zauft (UT) def. Ksenia Bukina (KU), 6-1, 1-0, injury default
3) Vania Corovic (UT) def. Kunigunda Dorn (KU), 6-1, 6-1
4) Sarah Lancaster (UT) def. Edina Horvath (KU), 6-4, 6-1
5) Ristine Olson (UT) def. Lauren Hommell (KU), 6-0, 6-1
6) Stephanie Davison (UT) def. Yuliana Svistun (KU), 6-2, 6-2

Doubles

1) Avdeeva/Horvath (KU) def. Lancaster/Zauft (UT), 8-4
2) Dizdar/Olson (UT) def. Hommell/Dorn (KU), 8-6
3) Corovic/Milic (UT) def. Bukina/Svistun (KU), 9-8 (3)