Jayhawks advance at the ITA Central Regional

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas duo of Tatiana Nikolaeva and Despoina Vogasari advanced to the doubles semifinals after earning two wins on day three of the ITA Central Regional Championships presented by Oracle at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence, Kansas.
 
Nikolaeva and Vogasari won seven-straight games to defeat Ksenia Laskutova and Martha Matoula of Tulsa, 8-4. The duo then blanked Missouri’s Oliviera and Ismail, 8-0, to move on to the semifinals. In singles, Vogasari defeated No. 5 seeded Sofia Blanco of Oklahoma State, 6-1, 6-2. The Jayhawks will now face No. 1 seed Leolia Jeanjean and Giulia Pairone of Arkansas in the semifinals. Vogasari will play the Razorback’s Natsuho Arakawa in the quarterfinals.
 
“After the first five games Debbie (Vogasari) and Tanya (Nikolaeva) really settled down and played flawless tennis,” said head coach Todd Chapman. “They won 15 straight games. They were in control of what they wanted to do, in good control of their emotions and they played really well together.
 
“Debbie played really in control in her singles as well. She had a good demeanor about herself all day. We look forward to the same things tomorrow. Can we put ourselves in the right position to play better tennis?”
 
Nina Khmelnitckaia and Anastasia Rychagova fell to Tatum Rice and Jackie Carr of Arkansas, 8-5. Khmelnitckaia took Arakawa of Arkansas, but ultimately fell, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Koch and Toran Ribes dropped their match to Iowa’s Zoe Douglas and Elise Van Heuvelen, 8-6. Toran Ribes was not able to overcome the No. 9 seeded Katrine Stresnakova from Oklahoma State and fell, 6-1, 6-1. Koch lost her match to the No. 3 seeded Jeanjean of Arkansas, 6-1, 6-0.
 
“To have six players starting the day and to be down to two, I wouldn’t be telling the truth if we weren’t disappointed,” Chapman said. “We had some good opportunities that we let slip by. Some of our opponents exposed some weaknesses. That’s the positive of it. As disappointed as I am, it shows us what we need to get better at and it’s up to us to get back to work.
 
Playing in extra matches Saturday, Amber Policare fell to Jeannie Lozowski of Nebraska, 6-1, 6-4. Carla Pons Martorell lost her match to Iowa’s Montana Crawford, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Nikolaeva wasn’t able to top Rosanna Maffei of Kansas State and fell, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.
 
Sunday will start with the semifinals of doubles followed by singles quarterfinals and semifinals.
 
Day 3 Results
 
Round of 16 Singles
Vogasari (KU) def. Blanco (OSU) 6-1, 6-2
Stresnakova (OSU) def. Toran Ribes (KU) 6-1, 6-1
Jeanjean (UA) def. Koch (KU) 6-1, 6-0
Arakawa (UA) def. Khmelnitckaia (KU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
 
Singles Extra Matches
Lozowski (NU) def. Amber Policare (KU) 6-1, 6-4
Crawford (UI) def. Pons Martorell (KU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
Maffei (KSU) def. Nikolaeva (KU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
 
Round of 32 Doubles
Nikolaeva/Vogasari (KU) def. Laskutova/Matoula (TU) 8-4
Rice/Carr (UA) def. Khmelnitckaia/Rychagova (KU) 8-5
Douglas/Van Heuvelen (UI) def. Koch/Toran Ribes (KU) 8-6
 
Round of 16 Doubles
Nikolaeva/Vogasari (KU) def. Oliviera/Ismail (MU) 8-0
 
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