Jayhawk doubles team advances at ITA All-American
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – The Kansas double team of Anastasia Rychagova and Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum earned a victory Saturday and is two wins away from making the qualifying bracket at the 2016 Riviera ITA Women’s All-American Championship.
Rychagova and Bernard-Feigenbaum topped Tina Bokhua and Macarena Oliveres from Texas A&M, 8-6 in the first round of the pre-qualifying bracket. With the victory, the Jayhawk tandem will now face the No. 3 overall seed Caroline Brinson and Kennedy Shaffer from Georgia at 12:15 p.m., CT Sunday.
“We have a great opportunity tomorrow in doubles and will use (Saturday’s) singles as motivation to improve in the areas we can control,” Kansas assistant coach Caroline Lilley said. “The more we face opponents who push us beyond our comfort zone, the better we will respond later this year.”
On the singles side, both Bernard-Feigenbaum and Janet Koch weren’t as fortunate. Bernard-Feigenbaum claimed the first set against Pepperdine’s Laura Gulbe, but eventually had to succumb to leg cramps and suffered a 3-6, 6-0 default defeat. Bernard-Feigenbaum was able to bounce back in a bonus consolation match with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 win over Wyoming’s Magdalenca Stencel.
Koch, a sophomore, held her own against USC’s senior Zoe Katz, who played at No. 3 singles during the final stretch of the 2015-16 season, but fell 6-4, 6-4. Koch mirrored the result in her consolation match with her second 6-4, 6-4 defeat on the day this time to Hawaii’s Cindy Nguyen.
“We learned a lot about what it means to be a gritty, passionate fighter,” said Lilley. “The exciting part is we have a lot we can improve upon moving forward. When we face adversity we need to continue to be solution-minded rather than problem-focused.
“We will learn from today, take what we can and constructively move forward with a clear vision of where we desire to be for the spring season.”
Saturday Results
Singles
Laura Gulbe (Pepperdine) def. Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum (Kansas), 3-6, 6-0, default
Zoe Katz (USC) def. Janet Koch (Kansas), 6-4, 6-4
Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum (Kansas) def. Magdalenca Stencel (Wyoming), 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Cindy Nguyen (Hawaii) def. Janet Koch (Kansas), 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
Rychagova/Bernard-Feigenbaum (Kansas) def. Bokhua/Olivares (Texas A&M), 8-6
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