Kansas Tennis Defeats Cleveland State 6-1 in Third-Straight Win

March 15, 2010

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Despite a slow start in doubles play, the Kansas tennis team rallied back with six singles victories to take down Cleveland State 6-1 on Monday at the Jayhawk Tennis Facility.

The win marked KU’s third-straight victory to close out its non-conference season. The Jayhawks will start Big 12 play Friday with an 8-4 record.

Sophomore Ekaterina Morozova led the team at the No. 1 singles spot in her defeat of CSU’s Catrine Bjerrehus in straight-sets.

“I felt much better than I have in my last matches,” said Morozova. “I am feeling more confident. All the girls gave me good motivation before my match and we played great as a team.”

Junior Maria Martinez’s victory over CSU’s Nicole Janek marked her third consecutive singles win and seventh victory in eight matches. She has a 9-3 record so far this spring.

Senior Kunigunda Dorn, sophomore Erin Wilbert and freshmen Sara Lazarevic and Victoria Khanevskaya also earned victories for the Jayhawks.

“I was not overly thrilled with doubles today, but the girls came back in singles and we were successful at all six singles,” said KU head coach Amy Hall-Holt. “We needed this win going into conference play, but we also need to keep getting better and building confidence. We are up against a tough A&M team this weekend, but it is a new start to a new season.”

The Jayhawks will open their conference season against No. 56 Texas A&M at 4 p.m. Friday in College Station, Texas.

Check back to www.kuathletics.com/tennis for updates.

Kansas 6, Cleveland State 1

DOUBLES

  1. Bjerrehus/Gibbons (CSU) def. Wilbert/Morozova (KU), 8-5
  2. Lazaris/Janek (CSU) def. Dorn/Lazarevic (KU), 8-3
  3. Martinez/Dzuba (KU) def. Liu/Bjelan (CSU), 8-5
  4. Khanevskaya/Goff (KU) def. Muntean/Drake (CSU), 8-4*

SINGLES

  1. Ekaterina Morozova (KU) def. Catrine Bjerrehus (CSU), 6-3, 6-2
  2. Sara Lazarevic (KU) def. Maria Lazaris (CSU), 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
  3. Maria Martinez (KU) def. Nicole Janek (CSU), 7-5, 6-1
  4. Kunigunda Dorn (KU) def. Charlotte Gibbons (CSU), 6-2, 6-3
  5. Erin Wilbert (KU) def. Sanda Bjelan (CSU), 6-1, 6-2
  6. Victoria Khanevksaya (KU) def. Mengdi Liu (CSU), 7-6(5), 6-1
  7. Alessandra Dzuba (KU) def. Denisa Muntean (CSU), 8-2*
  8. Molly Drake (CSU) def. Kate Goff (KU), 6-2, 3-6, 12-10*

*denotes exhibition match