🎾 Kansas Falls in Contested Match at TCU
FORT WORTH, Texas – Riding a two-game winning streak into the match, the Kansas women’s tennis team fell, 4-3, to TCU after battling back into contention in singles play on Friday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
The Jayhawks fell behind early in doubles, with TCU claiming the point. Sonia Smagina and Vasiliki Karvouni fell to the Horned Frogs on court one after a hard-fought battle, 6-4. Carmen Roxana Manu and Tiffany Lagarde contended on court three for Kansas but were bested 6-3. The duo of Malkia Ngounoue and Julia Deming were battling on court two before the match went unfinished as the Horned Frogs took the doubles point and the lead at 1-0.
In singles competition, the Jayhawks started off with a victory on court six after Julia Deming made quick work of her two sets both finishing 6-1. Kansas had deadlocked the match at one a-piece.
Smagina followed her teammate’s pace and completely dominated her opponent on court one 6-3 and 6-1, giving the Jayhawks a 2-1 lead.
However, the Horned Frogs added a pair of victories to gain back the advantage. TCU’s Isabel Pascual faced off against Karvouni on court four, and won a tiebreaker to take the initial set, 7-5. Pascual raced out to a 6-1 finish in the following set. The Horned Frogs kept the momentum going with a win on court two as Marie Norris defeated Ngounoue, 6-3 and 6-4. The Horned Frogs had regained the lead at 3-2.
Kansas tallied a point on court three with Manu’s besting of TCU’s Mercedes Aristegui. Manu dominated the first set 6-2 but fell in the following set 2-6. However, Manu battled back into contention in the third with a close 6-4 victory, tying the match at 3-3.
Coming down to the wire, the fate of the match rested on court five where Lagarde took on Stevie Kennedy. In the opening set, Kennedy raced out to a 6-2 finish. Lagarde returned the favor in the second, taking it 6-3. TCU’s Kennedy fought her way through to a 7-6 finish to aid the Horned Frogs to a 4-3 victory on the afternoon.
Kansas will look to bounce back on Sunday, March 14, when they take on Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, for the second of a three game road trip for the Jayhawks.
