Kansas Tennis Kicks off Spring Season against Drake
Feb. 4, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Kansas women’s tennis will return to action Saturday when it hosts Drake in the first dual match of the 2011 spring season. The match is slated for 12 p.m., at the Jayhawk Tennis Facility.
The Jayhawks enter this week’s match after a strong fall season, in which two players were chosen to compete at the Riviera ITA All-American Championships in Los Angeles and four were chosen to compete in the USTA/ITA Central Regional in Fayetteville, Ark.
Looking to build on a 9-15 finish from the 2010 spring season, KU returns five of six starters from last season, including three players who each won 10 or more matches.
Ekaterina Morozova will continue to lead off for the Jayhawks as the No. 1 singles player. The junior is coming off of a fall season in which she posted a 5-3 record in singles. Morozova went 10-13 starting all matches in the No. 1 spot last spring, and finished with an 8-7 mark with Erin Wilbert as KU’s No. 1 doubles team.
Wilbert and Khanevskaya will continue to anchor the bottom of the lineup. Khanevskaya had a breakout fall season, pacing the Jayhawks with a 10-3 record. As a freshman, Khanevskaya finished the spring as KU’s spring singles leader after posting an 11-12 record that included a 4-7 mark in the Big 12, mostly at the No. 6 spot.
In her sophomore season, Wilbert went 10-12 in the No. 5 position. Wilbert will continue to partner with Morozova after going 5-3 in a fall season that was highlighted by a victory in the All-American Championships over the pre-qualifying draw’s sixth-seeded team from Texas.
Also returning is sophomore Sara Lazarevic, who went 5-5 in singles and 5-4 in doubles with Monica Pezzotti in the fall, and senior Maria Martinez, who won nine times last spring.
In the mix for a lineup spot are newcomers Pezzotti, Paulina Los and Dylan Windom.
Drake will be the first of 13 home matches at the Jayhawk Tennis Facility this season. The Jayhawks will go on the road for two matches before returning in late February for a seven-match home-stretch. Highlighting that stretch is No. 38 Tulsa and local foe UMKC.
In Big 12 action, Kansas will host five matches, including both the Sunflower and Border Showdown contests against Kansas State and Missouri. Also visiting the Jayhawk Tennis Facility will be No. 21 Texas, No. 34 Texas A&M and No. 72 Colorado.
