No. 16 Jayhawks fall to No. 11 Oklahoma State, 4-1
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The No. 16 Kansas women’s team dropped a tough match at home to No. 11-ranked Oklahoma State, 4-1, Friday evening at the Jayhawk Tennis Center at Rock Chalk Park. The loss snapped KU’s five-match winning streak.
Following Friday’s match, the Jayhawks are 14-5 overall and 6-2 in the Big 12 Conference. The Cowgirls moved to an overall record of 17-3 and 6-2 against Big 12 opponents.
Maria Toran Ribes and Despoina Vogasari won the only doubles match of the day after they handled Sami Court and Megan McCray, 6-3, for a victory on court three.
In singles, Amber Policare blanked Sami Court at the No. 6 position for a first-set, 6-0, win. Carrying that momentum into her second set, Policare allowed Court only one point for a, 6-1, victory to tie the overall match at 1-1.
“Credit to Oklahoma State,” said head coach Todd Chapman. “I thought in the big moments, and throughout the match, they played with more composure and confidence in the big situations than we did. That’s a veteran-seasoned team that truly believes in themselves. That’s the goal for us, is to get in a position where we believe in ourselves enough to compete at the level we need to in order to win a match like (this).”
In doubles, No. 76 Nina Khmelnitckaia and Tatiana Nikolaeva battled back to bring their doubles match within one against No. 12 Vladica Babic and Sofia Blanco, ultimately falling, 6-4.
Janet Koch and Policare claimed four-straight games to tie their match, at 5-5, opposite of Marina Guinart and Katarina Stresnakova. With the Cowgirls up, 6-5, 40-40, Policare double-faulted and Oklahoma State clinched the doubles point.
Khmelnitckaia kept it close in the beginning of her first set with No. 99 Stresnakova, but fell against the Cowgirl, 6-3. Stresnakova then took the second set, 6-1, to put the Cowgirls up, 2-1.
Toran Ribes and No. 121 Guinart went back-and-forth in their first set on court four before Guinart pulled away for a, 6-4, win. In the second set, Guinart came out on top, 6-2,
Koch was edged by No. 37 McCray in the first set, 6-4. McCray then topped Koch, 6-3, in the second set to claim the overall match for the Cowgirls, 4-1.
No. 68 Vogasari was outpaced by No. 21-ranked Babic in the first set, 6-3, on court one. Vogasari trailed 3-2 in her second set when the match was stopped due to Oklahoma State winning the clinching point.
Nikolaeva cruised to a, 6-1, victory in her first set with Blanco at the No. 5 spot. Nikolaeva had a 4-2 lead in her second set before play was stopped due to the match being clinched.
Kansas will close out its home schedule Sunday, when the Jayhawks host Oklahoma for Senior Day at noon. After the match, KU will honor Vogasari, its lone senior.
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