🎾 Jayhawks to Face Wildcats on Saturday
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas women’s tennis team (7-7) will take on Kansas State (6-7) for the second time this season on Saturday, April 3 at 1:30 p.m.
The Jayhawks split last weekend’s matches against the Mountaineers and the Cyclones. Kansas defeated West Virginia on Friday, March 26 in an unrelenting 6-1 victory on the Mountaineer Tennis Courts. In doubles play, Carmen Manu and Tiffany Lagarde were uncontested on court three. The duo of Malkia Ngounoue and Julia Deming defeated Momoko Nagato and Amber Fuller, 6-4. The Jayhawks headed into singles with the momentum and the 1-0 lead. Deming added to the total, winning on court six by walkover. Vasiliki Karvouni made quick work of her sets, 6-1 and 6-2, to finish next. Courts two and three concluded play with victories from Ngounoue (6-1, 6-3) and Manu (3-6, 6-3, 6-3) to increase to Kansas lead to 5-0. West Virginia was able to finally get in the scoring column, thanks to Bovolskaia’s win on court one. Sonia Smagina did not go down quietly, though. The Mountaineer squeaked out a set one 6-4 victory but fell in the following set to Smagina, 3-6. Bovolskaia was able to eventually take the match after a tightly contested battle. Lastly, Lagarde routed West Virginia’s Anne-Sophie Courteau with set scores of 6-3 and 6-3. With the loss, the Mountaineers fell to 3-5 on the season.
Kansas traveled to Iowa State on Sunday, falling in a 4-1 match on the Forker Courts. The day started off with doubles play and court one concluding play first. Miska Kadleckova and Naklo Thasaporn battled Smagina and Karvouni, besting the Jayhawks 6-1. Court three conceded the doubles point to the Cyclones, where Maty Cancini and Sofia Cabezas defeated Manu and Lagarde, 6-3. Ngounoue and Deming on court two went unfinished, deadlocked in their match-up at 4-4. The Cyclones headed into singles with the 1-0 lead. Karvouni notched the first point of the afternoon for the Jayhawks in her commanding win with sets of 6-2 and 6-0. However, Iowa State tallied the following three singles victories on courts six, one, and three. Ngounoue and Lagarde were unfinished on courts five and two, respectively. With the victory, the Cyclones improved to 12-4 on the year.
The Jayhawks took on the Wildcats back on March 21 on their home courts in Lawrence. The bounce back 6-1 win positioned Kansas back in the win column and propelled them to a 6-6 mark on the season. The Wildcats couldn’t keep up in doubles play with Manu and Lagarde racing out to a 6-1 win to finish first on the afternoon. Smagina and Karvouni followed with a dominating 6-1 win in their match. With a sweep on courts three and one, Kansas took the doubles point. Malkia Ngounoue and Julia Deming would go unfinished. The Jayhawks headed into singles competition with a 1-0 lead over the Wildcats. Continuing her dominance, Manu completed her match against Rosanna Maffei, 6-4 and 6-0. Karvouni’s match was just the same fundamentally sound performance over Margot Decker, 6-1 and 6-2. Kansas now held a commanding 3-0 lead over Kansas State. Court two was the next to finish play, where the Wildcats’ Maria Linares defeated Ngounoue 6-4 and 6-3. Linares victory cut into the Kansas lead but Kansas State wouldn’t be able to gain any momentum due to Deming’s court six win over Ioana Gheorghita. Deming wrapped up the match with victories of 6-4 and 6-3. The Jayhawks were able to close out the 4-1 triumph over the Wildcats.
Following this weekend’s match-up, Kansas will return home to the Jayhawk Tennis Center to take on Texas on Friday, April 9 at 5 p.m.
