🎾 Jayhawks Open Big 12 Tournament Against Kansas State
WACO, Texas – The Kansas women’s tennis team secured the No. 9 seed in the Big 12 Tournament and are set to face Kansas State who is the No. 8 seed. These teams will open the Big 12 Women’s Tennis Championship with first serve at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 22 on the Hurd Grandstand Courts.
The Jayhawks (7-12) and the Wildcats (7-11) battled twice during the regular season, splitting the contests with one victory each.
Back on March 21, Kansas notched a 4-1 win over Kansas State inside the Jayhawk Tennis Center. The Wildcats couldn’t keep up in doubles play as Carmen Manu and Tiffany Lagarde raced out to a 6-1 win, finishing first on the afternoon. Sonia Smagina and Vasiliki Karvouni followed with a dominating 6-1 victory. With a sweep on courts three and one, Kansas took the doubles point. Manu completed her match with sets of 6-4 and 6-0. Karvouni’s match was fundamentally sound, as she routed her competition 6-1 and 6-2. The Jayhawks now held a commanding 3-0 lead over the Wildcats. Maria Linares got Kansas State on the board with her win on court two but Julia Deming put an end to any potential Wildcat momentum. Deming’s court six win wrapped up the match with victories of 6-4 and 6-4.
In the rematch on April 3, Kansas State notched a narrow 4-3 victory over Kansas at the Mike Goss Tennis Stadium. Doubles play set the tone early as a prelude to the intense battle ahead. The Wildcats on court three posted the first win of the day. However, Malkia Ngounoue and Deming defeated Kansas State’s duo 6-1. Stuck in a tiebreaking situation, the doubles point rested on court one. Smagina and Karvouni outlasted the Wildcats 7-6 (7-4). Karine-Marion Job evened the score for the home team and deadlocked the match at one all, pushing past Smagina at 6-0 and 6-4. Kansas State’s Anna Turco bested Deming 6-3, 6-1 and gave her team the premature 2-1 lead. Kansas rallied back taking courts three and four in back-to-back victories to position the Jayhawks ahead at 3-2. On court three, Manu defeated Manami Ukita with sets of 6-4, 6-4. Karvouni followed on court four routing Lilla Barzo 6-3, 6-4 sets. Maria Linares kept the thrilling theme of competition by bringing the match to yet another tie at three all with her win on court two. The Wildcat narrowly notched her victory after battling with Ngounoue with set scores of 6-4 and 7-6 (7-1). The fate of the overall match rested on the outcome of court five where Lagarde was competing against Kansas State’s Ioana Gheorghita. These two competitors traded sets back-and-forth throughout with the Wildcat taking the opening set of 7-5. Lagarde took set two at 7-6 (1-7). Gheorghita eventually tallied the win at 6-4.
There will be live stats and video stream for every match of the Big 12 Championship at Big12Sports.com.
2021 Big 12 Women’s Tennis Championship Schedule – Waco, Texas
Thursday, April 22
Match 1: No. 9 Kansas vs. No. 8 Kansas State – 10:00 a.m.
Friday, April 23
Match 4: No. 7 TCU vs. No. 2 Baylor – Noon
Match 5: No. 6 Iowa State vs. No. 3 Texas Tech – Noon
Match 2: Match 1 winner vs. No. 1 Texas – 3:00 p.m.
Match 3: No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 4 Oklahoma – 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 24
Match 6: Match 2 winner vs. Match 3 winner – Noon
Match 7: Match 4 winner vs. Match 5 winner – Noon
Sunday, April 25
Match 8: Match 6 winner vs. Match 7 winner – 1:00 p.m.
All Times Listed as Central
