Jayhawks Pick Up First-Ever Win Over Texas with Epic 4-3 Victory
| #27 Kansas 4, #35 Texas 3 Jayhawk Tennis Center March 18, 2016 |
| Doubles |
| No. 1 – Nina Khmelnitckaia/Janet Koch (KU) vs. Breaunna Addison/Dani Wagland (UT) 2-5 unfinished |
| No. 2 – Maria Jose Cardona/Summer Collins (KU) def. Nina Koprcina/Daniella Roldan (UT) 6-3 |
| No. 3 – Smith Hinton/Anastasiya Rychagova (KU) def. Lana Groenvynck/Katie Poluta (UT) 6-0 |
| Order of Finish: 3,2 |
| Singles |
| No. 1 – Breaunna Addison (UT) def. Anastasiya Rychagova (KU) 7-5, 6-1 |
| No. 2 – Nina Koprcina (UT) def. Smith Hinton (KU) 6-2, 7-6 |
| No. 3 – Janet Koch (KU) def. Dani Wagland (UT) 6-3. 7-6 |
| No. 4 – Nina Khmelnitckaia (KU) def. Katie Poluta (UT) 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 |
| No. 5 – Daniella Roldan (UT) def. Summer Collins (KU) 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 |
| No. 6 – Maria Jose Cardona (KU) def. Lana Groenvynck (UT) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 |
| Order of Finish: 2,1,3,4,5.6 |
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LAWRENCE, Kan.— It took 27 previous meetings and a four-and-a-half-hour match Friday, but Kansas finally captured its first-ever win over Texas as the 27th-ranked Jayhawks held off the 35th-rated Longhorns, 4-3, at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. Not only was the win the first for Kansas over Texas in program history, but it moved the Jayhawks to 12-2 on the season, its best mark to open a season since going 17-2 in 1998.
“I told the girls ‘we (Kansas) had lost 27 in a row to Texas, but this team is 1-0 against Texas’,” said KU head coach Todd Chapman, who now has his Jayhawks 2-0 in Big 12 Conference play. “I am super proud of the fight we had today. Whether we had won or lost that match, I was pleased with the way we competed. I was going to be happy with the way we played and the way we fought through tough situations. We kept competing and had great energy. That was a long match, four-and-a-half hours, and I thought our energy and confidence stayed high in the big situations.”
With the match hanging in the balance, tied at three points each, Kansas got the win as senior Maria Jose Cardona battled from behind to win a three-set match, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, on the sixth and final court to preserve the 4-3 win for the Jayhawks.
“I could not be more proud of Maria,” said Chapman. “With her being our lone senior, there was no one I wanted out there but her, and she played unbelievable down the stretch to win the match.”
Kansas opened the match with a 1-0 lead by picking up the doubles point as sophomore Smith Hinton and freshman Anastasiya Rychagova routed Texas’ Lana Groenvynck and Katie Poluta, 6-0, on court three. The win improved Hinton and Rychagova’s doubles record to 14-0 on the season.
Following KU’s win on doubles court three, it was a battle on courts one and two before the Jayhawks came up victorious on court two. Senior Maria Jose Cardona and sophomore Summer Collins defeated UT’s Nina Koprcina and Daniella Roldan, 6-3, securing the doubles point and a 1-0 lead for KU heading into singles play.
Texas got its first point on court two as Koprcina topped Hinton, 6-2, 7-6, to open the scoring in singles play. Koprcina’s win knotted the team score at 1-1. The Longhorns then briefly took a 2-1 lead, as UT’s Breaunna Addison defeated KU’s Rychagova, 7-5, 6-1, on court one.
Freshman Janet Koch picked up a win on court three for Kansas, returning the match to a tie score at 2-2. Koch beat Texas’ Dani Wagland, 6-3, 7-6, to even the score back up.
Fellow KU freshman, Nina Khmelnitckaia, put up a battle and pushed the Jayhawks back into the lead as she took a three-set match over UT’s Poluta. Khmelnitckaia topped Poluta, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5, on court four to give the Jayhawks the one-point advantage with two courts remaining in play.
Collins showed a lot of grit in her match on court five, but eventually came up short as she was edged by UT’s Roldan, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. Roldan’s win again tied the match at 3-3 setting the stage for Cardona’s heroics for the Jayhawks.
UP NEXT
Kansas will embark on a six-match road swing following Friday’s win against Texas. The Jayhawks will open the road swing with its final non-conference match of the season as KU will travel to Tulsa on Friday, March 25 for a 5 p.m., match.
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