KU Tennis Heads to Vegas for Three-Match Weekend

March 15, 2012

LAWRENCE, Kan.—Hoping to stop a four-match skid, the University of Kansas heads to Las Vegas this weekend to face three nonconference opponents. KU will take on Houston Saturday, Idaho Sunday and Bowling Green Monday with all matches slated to begin at 1 p.m. Heading into this weekend, the Jayhawks are 7-4 overall and 0-2 in Big 12 competition.

Last Time Out
KU suffered its second conference defeat at the hands of No. 56 Oklahoma State, 6-1, last Sunday at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. After dropping the decision at No. 2 doubles, junior Monica Pezzotti and sophomore Dylan Windom notched a win for KU at the No. 1 spot, defeating OSU’s Malika Rose and Kanyapat Narattana, 8-5. With the doubles point on the line, sophomore Claire Dreyer and junior Victoria Khanevskaya battled from three games down to tie it at 4-4 before falling at No. 3, 8-5, giving OSU the first point of the day.

Freshman Maria Belen Ludueña claimed KU’s lone singles victory at the No. 3 position. The freshman from Curico, Chile, came from one set down to take down Meghan Blevins in a tiebreak thriller, 4-6, 6-3 (11-9).

Scouting the Opponents
Houston brings a 6-4 record into the weekend. The Cougars dropped a 4-3 decision to Marquette Wednesday with their top duo of senior Giorgia Pozzan and junior Bryony Hunter claiming four of the last six games for an 8-6 victory to improve to 6-3 on the season. Pozzan also leads UH in singles, holding an 8-3 season record, including a 5-1 record at the No. 1 position.

Idaho is currently 11-5 in dual match play. On March 4, the team had its four-match win streak snapped as it fell 4-3 to New Mexico State in its Western Athletic Conference opener. The Vandals won the doubles point with three straight victories, but the Aggies battled back to win four of six singles matches to take the overall match. Sophomore Victoria Lozano won at the top singles spot, improving her record to 11-4 at the No. 1 singles spot for the season.

Holding a 4-3 spring record, the Bowling Green Falcons will play their first weekend of matches since Feb. 25. Sophomore Nikki Chiricosta brings a 4-1 singles record at the top spot to Las Vegas.

Up Next
Following their Las Vegas trip, the Jayhawks will play host to Baylor on March 24 at 11 a.m. and Texas Tech on March 25 at noon. Both matches will be played at the Jayhawk Tennis Center and are free and open to the public.