Jayhawks Fight for 4-3 Win Against Baylor

#24 Kansas 4, #51 Baylor 3
Jayhawk Tennis Center
March 9, 2016
Doubles
No. 1 –  Nina Khmelnitckaia/Janet Koch (KU) def. Kiah Generette/Blair Shankle (BU) 6-3
No. 2 – Maria Jose Cardona/Summer Collins (KU) vs. Elizabeth Profit/Theresa Van Zyl (BU) 3-4 unfinished
No. 3 – Smith Hinton/Anastasiya Rychagova (KU) def. Gabriella Ferreira/Rhiann Newborn (BU) 7-5
Order of Finish: 1,3
Singles
No. 1 – Anastasiya Rychagova (KU) def. Kiah Generette (BU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
No. 2 – Smith Hinton (KU) def. Rhiann Newborn (BU) 
No. 3 – Blair Shankle (BU) def. Janet Koch (KU) 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 –  Karina Traxler (BU) def. Nina Khmelnitckaia (KU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
No. 5 – Theresa Van Zyl (BU) def. Summer Collins (KU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 – Maria Jose Cardona (KU) def. Gabriella Ferreira (BU) 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3,6,5,1,4,2

Photo Gallery

LAWRENCE, Kan.— No. 24 Kansas women’s tennis halted a 16-match losing streak to Baylor as they edged the Lady Bears, 4-3, Wednesday afternoon, picking up a win in its first Big 12 Conference match of the 2016 season. Prior to Wednesday’s win, the Jayhawks (9-2, 1-0) had not defeated No. 51 Baylor (4-10, 0-1) since posting a 5-2 win on March 30, 2002. 
 
“It was great to come back after facing some adversity today,” Kansas head coach Todd Chapman said. “I just look back to Sunday when we were in the same exact position with some of the same girls on the court, and it didn’t go their way on Sunday against Denver, but thankfully it did today. We’ve talked a lot about facing adversity since Sunday, the girls weren’t happy with the way they handled their composure. I wasn’t happy the way we handled it because we weren’t composed and we’ve talked for several days about wanting to get into that situation and handle that opportunity the right way. I thought we did a fantastic job. We played to win today.”
 
Kansas started the dual with a 1-0 lead over Baylor by taking the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. KU freshmen Nina Khmelnitckaia and Janet Koch defeated BU’s Kiah Generette and Blair Shankle on court one with a, 6-3, win. The doubles point was secured with a, 7-5, win on court three from Kansas freshman Anastasiya Rychagova and sophomore Smith Hinton against Baylor’s Gabriella Ferreira and Rhiann Newborn. Rychagova and Hinton rallied from down 5-3 to claim the win and capture the first point of the match. 
 
In singles play, the Bears tied the Jayhawks, 1-1, after Shankle defeated KU’s Koch, 6-0, 6-2, on court three. Kansas moved back into the lead at, 2-1, as Cardona took care of business on court six with a dominating, 6-1, 6-2, win over Ferreira. Baylor responded by again tying the score, 2-2, following a win from Theresa Van Zyl, over KU’s sophomore Summer Collins on court five. Van Zyl defeated Collins, 6-4, 6-3.
 
Bringing the lead back in KU’s favor at 3-2 overall, was Rychagova on court one. A back-and-forth match against BU’s Generette eventually resulted in a, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, win for Moscow, Russia, native. 
 
Baylor was not done though as KU’s Khmlenitckaia fell to Traxler of Baylor, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, bringing the two teams back to a, 3-3, tie.

With the match in hanging in the balance, KU’s Hinton clinched the, 4-3, win over the Bears with a three-set win on court two. After battling for a first set win and falling in the second set, Hinton finished off Baylor’s Newborn, 7-6, 3-6, 7-5. 
 
“Whether it was Baylor or anyone else, our first conference competition was a chance to set a standard from the beginning so it was a big win against Baylor,” Chapman said. “It’s exciting to be 1-0 in the Big 12, so we’ll enjoy this win tonight, but then we’ve got a couple of non-conference matches this weekend in Houston. We’ve got to get ready for a tough Tulane team on Saturday.”

Up Next
Kansas will travel to Houston, Texas to face Tulane and the host school Houston. The Jayhawks will battle Tulane on Saturday, March 12 at 10 a.m., followed by a match against Houston on Sunday, March 13, at 12 p.m. 

KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.