Kansas heading to Columbus for ITA Kick-Off
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas women’s tennis team will travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the 10th annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kick-Off Weekend where they will face No. 14 Ohio State at 9 a.m., CT, at the Varsity Tennis Center.
After a 6-1 season-opening loss to No. 10-ranked Michigan, the Jayhawks will look to bounce back this weekend at the four-team tournament. Sophomore Maria Toran Ribes notched Kansas’ only point against the Wolverines, moving her to an even 8-8 on the season.
“I’m looking forward to a response from Sunday in the areas that we can improve and get better from,” said head coach Todd Chapman. “I’m excited to see whether we have growth or not. That’s a big piece of the spring season. Sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to make adjustments or changes within your team. I’m excited to see how we compete after this week’s preparation to see if we’ve grown in any of those areas. Hopefully there’s a positive response.”
KU currently has four individuals ranked in the ITA top-125 in No. 1 Anastasia Rychagova (10-2), No. 90 Janet Koch (10-7), No. 94 Despoina Vogasari (11-6) and No. 112 Nina Khmelnitckaia (9-5). Rychagova and Khmelnitckaia (7-2) also earned a spot in the doubles rankings at No. 38.
The Buckeyes and Jayhawks last met in 2003, with Ohio State leading the overall series, 4-0. This match will be OSU’s first of the season. The Buckeyes’ roster has one ranked singles player and two doubles teams – No. 80 Shiori Fukuda, No. 30 Fukuda and Maria Tyrina, and No. 49 Olivia Sneed and Anna Sanford.
“We picked the regional we did, because no matter what, we knew we were going to get two quality matches,” said Chapman. “I think it’s a very strong regional and one that’s going to come down to what team competes the best, mentally puts themselves in the right positions and is willing to go out and take it from the other team. All four teams are capable of winning the regional.”
Friday also features a match between No. 18 Arkansas and Wake Forest. The winners and losers of each match will face each other Saturday.
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