No. 10 Kansas tennis edges No. 30 Oklahoma
NORMAN, Okla. – No. 10-ranked Kansas tennis won a hard-fought road victory over No. 30-ranked Oklahoma Sunday, 4-3, to even its Big 12 Conference record at 1-1.
With the win, Kansas improves to 10-3 overall. Oklahoma moves to 11-4 and 1-1.
The doubles point came down to the No. 3 doubles court, where Kansas’ Maria Toran Ribes and Malkia Ngounoue defeated Oleksandra Korashvil and Kinanah Motosono in a tiebreaker, 7-6(3).
The nation’s No. 2-ranked doubles pair, KU’s Janet Koch and Nina Khmelnitckaia, finished first, besting the Sooners’ Jasmine Asghar and Ivana Corley, 6-4, at number one doubles. KU’s Anastasia Rychagova and Sonia Smagina then fell to No. 75-ranked Martina Capurro and Camila Romero, 6-3, at second doubles to set up the deciding doubles match.
With a 1-0 lead after doubles, the six Jayhawk singles players went to work. No. 34-ranked senior Rychagova finished first on court one, where she fell to No.40, Korashvil, 6-1, 6-2. Shortly thereafter, at No. 5 singles, junior Toran Ribes gave the lead back to the Jayhawks with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Motosono. Freshman Smagina then gave the Jayhawks a 3-1 lead, beating Romero in a close battle, 7-5, 6-4.
Each of the remaining three singles matches went to three sets. At No. 3 singles, Khmelnitckaia was the next off the court, falling to OU’s Asghar, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
On court six, KU freshman Ngounoue had to go to a third-set tiebreaker, overcoming Corley, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4), to clinch the match for the Jayhawks. Koch, at No.2 singles, then fell to Capurro, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).
QUOTES
Head coach Todd Chapman
“Our young kids really stepped up today in the big moments. As a team, our competitive level was much better than Friday, even if on some courts it wasn’t our best tennis. We will look to build off this (win) and get ready for another big weekend next weekend.”
UP NEXT
No. 10 Kansas hits the road again next weekend, as the Jayhawks travel to the Lone Star state to take on Big 12 foes Baylor and Texas. KU and BU will face off Friday night, March 22, in Waco at 5 p.m., while first serve between Kansas and Texas is scheduled for noon on Sunday, March 24 in Austin.
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