Khmelnitckaia sweeps day one

BATON ROUGE, La. – Kansas junior Nina Khmelnitckaia picked up a pair of wins Friday at the Tiger Fall Classic at the LSU Tennis Complex.
 
Starting off the day with doubles, Nina Khmelnitckaia teamed up with Tatiana Nikolaeva for the first time this season to blank Victoria Flores and Nami Otsuka of Georgia Tech, 6-0. In singles, Khmelnitckaia outlasted LSU’s Jessica Golovin in three sets, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2.
 
“Nina and Tanya (Nikolaeva) came out and played with great intensity and energy in doubles,” said head coach Todd Chapman. “It was great to see, especially with it being their first match together this fall. In singles, we had half the team compete in a way that put themselves in positive situations and half the team not compete in a way to put themselves in positive situations.”
 
Janet Koch battled in three sets against the No. 64-ranked Ryann Foster of LSU and came out on top, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1). Amber Policare also picked up a singles win, defeating LSU’s Lizzie Hotard, 6-0, 6-4.
 
Facing LSU in the rest of the singles field, the Jayhawks dropped their three remaining matches. Maria Toran Ribes fell to Elyse Lavender, 6-0, 6-4. Nikolaeva lost her match, 6-0, 6-1, to Eden Richardson. Carla Pons Martorell was topped by Kennan Johnson, 6-1, 6-2.
 
KU doubles team of Koch and Toran Ribes were not able to overcome the Yellow Jacket’s duo of Johnnise Renaud and Ida Jarlskog dropping the match, 6-3.
 
“The goal (Saturday) is to have the whole team compete the way that is expected in our program,” said Chapman. “I look forward to seeing great competitive energy (Saturday) from the whole team.”
 
Saturday will begin with doubles play against Princeton at 9 a.m., CT, followed by a second slate against LSU. Kansas will face Georgia Tech in singles after the conclusion of both doubles rounds.
 
Day 1 Results
Doubles
Khmelnitckaia/Nikolaeva (KU) def. Flores/Otsuka (GT) 6-0
Renaud/Jarlskog (GT) def. Koch/Ribes (KU) 6-3
 
Singles
Koch (KU) def. No. 64 Foster (LSU) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1)
Khmelnitckaia (KU) def. Golovin (LSU) 6-4, 0-6, 6-2
Policare (KU) def. Hotard (LSU) 6-0, 6-4
Lavender (LSU) def. Toran Ribes (KU) 6-0, 6-4
Richardson (LSU) def. Nikolaeva (KU) 6-0, 6-1
Kennan Johnson (LSU) def. Martorell (KU) 6-1, 6-2

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