Jayhawks Come up Short Against Missouri, 4-3
April 7, 2007
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Kansas tennis team’s comeback fell short in the Border Showdown on Saturday, as Missouri defeated the Jayhawks, 4-3.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
The loss drops KU’s record to 4-12, 2-5 in the Big 12, while the Tigers improved to 7-10, 2-7.
As has been the case in each of Kansas’ losses this season, the Jayhawks opened the dual by dropping the doubles point. Only KU’s top duo of junior Elizaveta Avdeeva and sophomore Edina Horvath were able to notch a victory, beating MU’s Katelyn McKenzie and Raquel Wagner, 8-2. The win improved the tandem’s overall record this spring to 13-4, including a 6-1 league mark which is the Big 12’s second best in the No. 1 position.
Singles play opened on a down note for KU as well, as junior Lauren Hommell was forced to retire from her No. 4 match due to an injury, putting the Jayhawks down 2-0. However, Kansas rallied to get back in the contest, as it got straight-set wins from Avdeeva, Horvath, and sophomore Yuliana Svistun to take a 3-2 lead in the dual.
Svistun, a Ufa, Russia, native, improved her spring record to a team-best 11-5, and has now won 10 of her last 12 matches after a 1-3 start. With their wins, Avdeeva and Horvath each snapped streaks of two-straight losses.
The Tigers secured each of the remaining matches, though, as Kansas’ Kunigunda Dorn and Stephanie Smith were defeated, sending Mizzou to the victory. Dorn was on the brink of clinching a win for KU after she took the first set of the No. 2 contest, 6-2, but MU’s Chrissy Svetlic claimed the next two sets for the victory.
The Jayhawks will look to get back on track when they host in-state rival KansasState on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Results
Singles
1) Elizaveta Avdeeva (KU) def. Amanda Pratzel (MU), 6-2, 6-3
2) Chrissy Svetlic (MU) def. Kunigunda Dorn (KU), 2-6, 4-5, 6-1
3) Edina Horvath (KU) def. Erika Josbena (MU), 6-3, 6-4
4) Kaitlin Dunham (M) def. Lauren Hommell (KU), 6-1, ret. injury
5) Yuliana Svistun (KU) def. Katelyn McKenzie (MU), 6-0, 6-4
6) Racqual Wagner (MU) def. Stephanie Smith (KU), 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
1) Avdeeva/Horvath (KU) def. McKenzie/Wagner (MU), 8-2
2) Josbena/Pratzel (MU) def. Dorn/Hommell (KU), 8-6
3) Dunham/Svetlic (MU) def. Smith/Svistun (KU), 8-3
