Jayhawks Can't Hold off No. 43 Iowa in 4-3 Loss
March 20, 2008
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>LAWRENCE, Kan. – In its final non-conference dual of the season, the University of Kansas was narrowly defeated by No. 43 Iowa, 4-3, Thursday afternoon in Lawrence.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
The loss was KU’s third straight and dropped its record to 5-8 (1-2).
Unlike in their losses last week at Colorado and Missouri, the Jayhawks opened up Thursday’s dual by winning two of three doubles matches to take the early lead.
First to record a win was KU’s No. 3 tandem of freshmen Magdalena Tokarczyk and Maria Martinez, who was stepping in for the injured Yuliana Svistun. The duo took care of Iowa’s Kayla Berry and Lynne Poggensee-Wei, 8-6.
After Kansas’ No. 2 pair of senior Lauren Hommell and junior Kunigunda Dorn fell in their match, KU’s top duo of senior Elizaveta Avdeeva and Edina Horvath battle back to defeat Iowa’s Jacqueline Lee and Alexis Doerr, 8-6, to give the Jayhawks early momentum, along with 1-0 advantage in the dual.
Singles action then went back and forth. After Martinez dropped her No. 6 contest, Dorn quickly dispatched the Hawkeyes’ Merel Beelen, 7-5, 6-2, to give Kansas a 2-1 lead.
Next to finish was the No. 1 match where Tokarczyk was topped by Lee, but Hommell – with momentum from a first-set tiebreak victory – again gave KU the lead by rolling Kelcie Klockenga in the second set for a 7-6 (5), 6-1 win.
However, Iowa would take the next to matches, clinching the dual. Horvath was finished off by the Hawkeye’s Alexis Doerr in the No. 3 contest, leaving only the No. 2 match between Avdeeva and Iowa’s Milica Veselinovic to be decided.
Avdeeva fell in the first set in a hard-fought tiebreaker, but battled back to take the second, leaving the match – and the dual – up to the third set. The Obninsk, Russia, native, though, appeared to fatigue and could not hold off Veselinovic, falling 6-0 in the deciding set.
After a rare weekend off, KU will get back into league play on Friday against Oklahoma at 11 a.m in Lawrence.
Results
Doubles
1) Avdeeva/Horvath (KU) def. Lee/Doerr (UI), 8-6
2) Veselinovic/Beelen (UI) def. Hommell/Dorn (KU), 8-4
3) Martinez/Tokarczyk (KU) def. Berry/ Poggensee-Wei (UI), 8-6
Singles
1) Jacqueline Lee (UI) def. Magdalena Tokarczyk (KU), 6-1, 6-2
2) Milica Veselinovic (UI) def. Elizaveta Avdeeva (KU), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-0
3) Alexis Doerr (UI) def. Edina Horvath (KU), 6-3, 6-1
4) Kunigunda Dorn (KU) def. Merel Beelen (UI), 7-5, 6-2
5) Lauren Hommell (KU) def. Kelcie Klockenga (UI), 7-6 (5), 6-1
6) Lynne Poggensee-Wei (UI) def. Maria Martinez (KU), 6-1, 6-2
