LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women's tennis battled to a hard-fought 4-2 win over the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday afternoon at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. The Jayhawks have won back-to-back Big 12 matches to move to 2-1 in conference this season.
"It was a tough battle," Kansas head coach Todd Chapman said. "I thought we got off to a really good start in doubles, and did a good job of early momentum in the singles matches. They fought back to make it a really tough match, and we just found a way in the end to win."
Kansas improved to 6-6 (2-1 Big 12) this season, while Iowa State dropped to 2-7 (0-3 Big 12) on the year.Â
The Jayhawks took early control over the Cyclones, winning two doubles matches quickly to take the doubles point. On court one, the pair of Heike Janse van Vuuren and Meg McCarty moved to 4-2 this season by defeating Julia Camblor and Gabriella Kellner 6-1 for their first conference win of the season. Kyoka Kubo and Meriem Ben Ezzedine grabbed their second win of the year with a 6-0 win over Mari Paz Alberto Vilar and Valeska San Martin on court three to grant KU the double point, and the early 1-0 lead.
Court one went unfinished, as Yerkezhan Arystanbekova and Anna Putilina were leading their match against Ashlee Narker and Stanislava Shulzhenko 4-2.
Van Vuuren started singles play off with a quick win, as she took down Narker 6-3, 6-0 in straight-sets to give Kansas a 2-0 lead. The win is her third straight, and her fifth win in her last six matches. On court five, McCarty defeated Suzanie Pretorius 7-5, 6-1 to move to 5-2 on the season, which extended KU's lead to 3-0.
The Cyclones were able to find points on courts three and four, as Camblor defeated Ben Ezzedine 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 and Shulzhenko defeated Arystanbekova 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to cut into the Kansas lead at 3-2.
With the match coming down to the finish, Putilina found a way to win on court six after dropping the first set to take down Alicia Dale 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 to give the Jayhawks a 4-2 win.
Court one went unfinished with Vilar leading Kansas' No. 45-ranked Kubo in a close 7-5, 5-7, 4-3 match.
UP NEXT
Kansas will take to the road for the first time in conference play and travel to Fort Worth, Texas to face the TCU Horned Frogs on Friday, March 13th. The match is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. CT.
Results
Doubles:Â
- Arystanbekova/Putilina (KU) vs. Narker/Shulzhenko (ISU), 4-2 (unf.)
- van Vuuren/McCarty (KU) def. Camblor/Kellner (ISU), 6-1
- Kubo/Ben Ezzedine (KU) def. Vilar/San Martin (ISU), 6-0
Singles:Â
- Vilar (ISU) vs. No. 45 Kubo (KU), 7-5, 5-7, 4-3 (unf.)
- van Vuuren (KU) def. Narker (ISU), 6-3, 6-0
- Shulzhenko (ISU) def. Arystanbekova (KU), 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
- Camblor (ISU) def. Ben Ezzedine (KU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-0
- McCarty (KU) def. Suzanie Pretorius (ISU), 7-5, 6-1
- Putilina (KU) def. Alicia Dale (ISU), 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3