20th Ranked Texas Defeats KU, 6-1
April 11, 2008
AUSTIN, Texas — Junior Yuliana Svistun won a thrilling three-set singles match despite being moved up in the lineup, but the University of Kansas tennis team could not otherwise hold down No. 20 Texas, losing 6-1 Friday afternoon in Austin. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
The setback dropped the 75th-ranked Jayhawks to 7-11 overall, 3-5 in Big 12 play, while UT improved to 12-4, including a perfect 7-0 on league action.
Svistun outlasted UT’s Caroline Larsson in the No. 4 singles position. The Ufa, Russia, native won the first set and was up in the second, but Larsson battled back and forced a third set with a 7-6 (5) win. However, Svistun regained her poise an edged Larsson in a tiebreaker in the deciding set, 1-0 (7), to give <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Kansas its only point.
Svistun has won three of four matches and is now the team-leader with 17 singles wins during the fall and spring seasons combined.
Despite the lopsided score, KU, which was without the services of senior Elizaveta Avdeeva in singles play, competed well with the Longhorns, especially in doubles. Avdeeva and junior Edina Horvath pushed Texas’ Vanja Corovic and Marija Milic — the nation’s 21st-ranked doubles tandem — to the wire, but eventually fell, 8-6.
Kansas’ No. 2 doubles pair of senior Lauren Hommell and sophomore Kunigunda Dorn also had a strong showing against UT’s Courtney Zauft and Maggie Mello. The two duos went back and forth before Zauft and Mello pulled away late for the 8-5 win.
The loss of Avdeeva in singles play forced every Jayhawk besides freshman Magdalena Tokarczyk, who stayed at No. 1, to move up a position. Dorn took her No. 3 match against UT’s Stephanie Davison to three sets despite being handled 6-1 in the first set, but was defeated in a tiebreak, 1-0 (4), in the deciding set.
Tokarczyk, Hommell, Horvath and senior Stephanie Smith each lost their respective singles matches in straight sets.
Friday’s dual with Texas marked KU’s 11th of the season against an opponent currently ranked in the ITA national poll.
Kansas will look to bounce back on Sunday as it closes up its regular-season road schedule at No. 33 Texas A&M. The dual is set to begin at 1 p.m. in College Station.
Results
Doubles
1) #21 Corovic/Milic (UT) def. Avdeeva/Horvath (KU), 8-6
2) Mello/Zauft (UT) def. Hommell/Dorn (KU), 8-5
3) Davison/Larsson (UT) def. Martinez/Tokarczyk (KU), 8-2
Singles
1) #64 Vanja Corovic (UT) def. Magdalena Tokarczyk (KU), 6-1, 6-1
2) Courtney Zauft (UT) def. Edina Horvath (KU), 6-1, 6-1
3) Stephanie Davison (UT) def. Kunigunda Dorn (KU), 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (4)
4) Yuliana Svistun (KU) def. Caroline Larsson (UT), 7-5, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (7)
5) Sarah Lancaster (UT) def. Lauren Hommell (KU), 6-1, 6-0
6) Maggie Mello (UT) def. Stephanie Smith (KU), 6-4, 6-0
