🎾 Kansas Falls at Oklahoma, 6-1
NORMAN, Okla. — After winning its last two matches, the Kansas women’s tennis team fell 6-1, despite a hard-fought match against Oklahoma inside the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Oklahoma on Sunday.
The match moves Kansas to 3-3 in duals this season, after winning their last two matches against Wichita State and Arizona.
The Jayhawks got off to a slow start in doubles, with Sonia Smagina and Vasiliki Karvouni falling to the Sooners, 6-2 on court one. Despite falling behind 5-1 on court two, Malkia Ngounoue and Julia Deming battled back to bring the set to 5-4, before Oklahoma capped it off at 6-4. Carmen Roxana Manu and Tiffany Lagarde were battling with the Sooners on court three, before the match went unfinished as the Sooners claimed the doubles point, 2-0.
In singles, Kansas looked to bounce back trailing 1-0. On court one, Sonia Smagina fell behind early and wasn’t able to catch up, dropping the first set, 4-6, before battling Carmen Corley to a tiebreaker at 6-7 (7).
Oklahoma also gained points on courts three (Roxana Manu: 2-6, 3-6), four (Karvouni: 3-6, 3-6) and five (Lagarde: 2-6, 3-6).
On court two, Malkia Ngounoue faced off against Ivana Corley of Oklahoma, which went to a tiebreaker at 6-7 (2) in the first set, favoring Corley. Ngounoue wasn’t able to come back in the second set, as Oklahoma expanded their lead, 6-0.
Kansas got a point on court six, where Julia Deming fought her way through a third set tiebreaker, 1-0, after battling with Oklahoma’s Camila Romero 6-4, 4-6 in the first two sets.
The Jayhawks will be back in action on Saturday, February 27 when they host Iowa State to the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence, Kansas, where the Jayhawks are 2-1 this season.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Kansas Athletics continues to rely on the advice of the Pandemic Medical Advisory Team on a weekly basis to determine the number of fans permitted in its athletic facilities. PMAT has set capacity for matches inside the Jayhawk Tennis Center at 96 total patrons with tickets being allotted 90 minutes prior to match time on a first come first serve basis. Admittance will remain free of charge, but in an effort to control the number of fans permitted, tickets will be given to fans wishing to be in attendance. This will remain the common practice until further notice. Tickets cannot be reserved in advance and will only be available at the front desk of the Jayhawk Tennis Center.
