LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas women’s tennis team spilt its pair of matches on Thursday as the Jayhawks welcomed themselves home with a 4-0 victory over Saint Louis before falling 4-2 to No. 7 Texas.
The day began with some mid-morning competition against the undefeated Saint Louis Billikens as the Jayhawks snagged the double point to gain an early 1-0 lead.
Kyoka Kubo and Heike Janse Van Vuuren dominated court No. 2 as they won, 6-1, against Saint Louis’ Norhan Hesham and Nicolly Ferreria. Over on the No. 3 court, Maria Titova and Tamari Gagoshidze followed with a 6-3 defeat over Sandra Gines and Emmerson White to secure the doubles point. Gracie Mulville and Jocelyn Massey fell 6-4 to Kseniia Aleshina and Elizabeth Mintusova.
In singles play, Kansas chronologically won on Courts 1, 2 and 3 to secure the 4-0 sweep to mar Saint Louis’ previously unbeaten season. Mulville finished with a quick 6-2, 6-1 victory in No. 1 singles as she’s won all three of her last home matches. A 6-4, 6-0 win by Kubo in No. 2 singles improves her overall record to 13-2 on the season. Van Vuuren has won her last five of six and iced the Jayhawk victory with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat on Court 3 to wrap up the morning competition.
Kansas also extended its all-time win streak over Saint Louis to 9-0.
KU returned to the Jayhawk Tennis Center in the evening to take on the No. 7 Texas Longhorns to complete the double-day duel.
It came down to Court 2 to determine who would win the doubles point after the No. 3 doubles duo of Titova and Gagoshidze won 6-2 and No. 1 doubles partners Mulville and Massey lost 6-2. Kubo and Van Vuuren battled Charlotte Chavatipon and Vivian Ovrootsky into an extra set before falling 7-5 to give the Longhorns the 1-0 advantage.
For just the third time this season, Kubo dropped a match as she fell in a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Charlotte Chavatipon, giving Texas their first singles point and a 2-0 lead. Van Vuuren gained Kansas its first point in a competitive match that finished by a tiebreaker as she beat No. 111 Taisiya Pachkaleva in a 6-2, 7-6 (8) battle.
Gracie Mulville picked up her fourth straight ranked win against No. 21 Malaika Rapuolu as she emerged victorious in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, to tie the Jayhawks up with Texas at 2-2.
Texas regained the lead as Gagoshidze lost two straight sets 6-2,7-5 on Court 6 and sealed its victory as Titova fell 7-6 (6), 6-2 in No. 2 singles.
Kansas is now 6-11 on the season and 3-5 in Big 12 Play as Texas improves to 14-4 and 7-1 in the conference.
Kansas completes its three-match home stand on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT against No. 22 Oklahoma at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. Admission is free for all attendees.
