Jayhawk Tennis Heads to Baylor, TCU

April 3, 2013

Big 12 Weekly Release

WACO, Texas – The Kansas women’s tennis team faces another tough pair of conference foes this weekend as it travels to face No. 42 Baylor on Friday and No. 35 Texas Christian Sunday in dual play.

Friday’s match against the Bears will begin at 5 p.m. at Hurd Tennis Center, while Sunday’s start time against the Horned Frogs is set for 10 a.m. at Friedman Tennis Center.

The Jayhawks (8-5, 0-3 Big 12) dropped out of the national team rankings this week after Saturday’s heartbreaking 4-3 home loss to rival Kansas State. KU has lost 17 consecutive dual matches against Big 12 opponents dating back to April 2011.

Kansas continues to show promise this spring, especially from the young talent on its roster. All of the Jayhawks’ top five singles players have at least one more year of eligibility after this season.

Freshman Maria Jose Cardona earned the No. 1 singles position after the departure of Haley Fournier a month ago. Meanwhile, fellow newcomer Nastya Trubica began her dual season on a six-match winning streak, notching notable victories over opponents from No. 23 Tulsa, No. 67 Charleston Southern and No. 40 Oklahoma.

Last week, Cardona earned the program’s first victory over a ranked singles opponent in exactly two years, defeating No. 60 Malika Rose of Oklahoma State in three sets on March 27. The last Jayhawk to achieve such a feat was Ekaterina Morozova, who defeated then No. 18-ranked Nazari Urbina of Texas A&M on March 27, 2011.

SCOUTING BAYLOR: Baylor sits at 7-12 in dual play this season, having played an extremely difficult non-conference schedule that featured seven opponents ranked in the top 10 of the ITA Women’s Division I Team Rankings. Four of its victories thus far came against top 50 opponents.

The Bears are led in singles by 10th-ranked sophomore Ema Burgic, who has gone 14-5 at the No. 1 position and is currently on a six-match winning streak. Their No. 2 player, redshirt freshman Victoria Kisialeva, is also ranked nationally in singles at No. 120.

Burgic and Kisialeva have teamed-up at No. 1 doubles, climbing to No. 29 in the nation with a conference-best 17-1 record this spring.

Last season, Kansas fell just short against a loaded 13th-ranked Baylor squad in Lawrence, 4-3. The Bears would go on to finish as the regular season Big 12 runner-up with a 25-8 record, eventually advancing to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. KU is 4-16 all-time against Baylor.

SCOUTING TCU: The Horned Frogs have compiled an overall 13-2 dual record in their first season as Big 12 Conference member, earning consecutive road victories over West Virginia and Iowa State to begin league play.

Both of their losses came to top 30 teams (No. 9 Alabama and No. 27 Rice), while five of their wins came against opponents ranked in the top 50. TCU climbed all the way to No. 20 in the national team rankings in February, one week after earning consecutive home victories over No. 46 Pepperdine, No. 17 Vanderbilt and No. 30 Arizona.

TCU is led by sophomore Stefanie Tan (16-7) and senior Olivia Smith (13-4), who are ranked No. 71 and 75 in the ITA Division I Singles Rankings, respectively. Smith and junior teammate Millie Nichols are also ranked No. 47 nationally in doubles, compiling an 8-3 record so far in dual play.

Kansas has lost both of its matches against TCU in program history, the most recent of which coming in 1989.

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