No. 11 Kansas blanks Wichita State 7-0
WICHITA, Kan. – Eleventh-ranked Kansas tennis blanked Wichita State, 7-0, in the Sunflower State clash at the Wichita Country Club Friday afternoon.
Kansas’ No. 5-ranked doubles tandem of seniors Janet Koch and Nina Khmelnitckaia bested Esther Thebault and Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva, 6-3, at number one doubles. Sophomore Malkia Ngounoue and junior Maria Toran Ribes, playing number three doubles, topped Ting-Ya Hsu and Lingwei Kong, 6-4, giving the Jayhawks the doubles point.
KU senior Anastasia Rychagova and her doubles partner, freshman Sonia Smagina, ranked No. 27 in the nation, were leading Marta Bellucco and Sandra Honigova, 6-5 at second doubles, but did not finish since Kansas had already clinched the doubles point.
Sophomore Plobrung Plipuech, playing at the number 3 singles position, scored an emphatic victory over Lingwei Kong, 6-0, 6-0, to give the Jayhawks their second point of the match. No. 109-ranked Rychagova bested WSU’s Honigova, 7-5, 6-3 at first singles, giving the Jayhawks a 3-0 lead. Senior Khmelnitckaia triumphed at fourth singles over Marta Bellucco, 6-2, 7-5, giving Kansas its fourth point and clinching the overall match.
No. 34-ranked Koch, playing number two singles, defeated Esther Thebault, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, to give the Jayhawks their fifth point. Junior Maria Toran Ribes bested Hsu, 6-2, 6-3, on Court 5 to move the Jayhawks one step closer to blanking the Shockers. In the final match of the day, Smagina beat Alexandra Lazarova, 6-1, 6-2 at the number six position to complete the match.
QUOTES
Kansas head coach Todd Chapman
“Friday was a good team win. We played an opponent who was seasoned, and has rich history in their tennis program. I thought we came out and did a really good job. Doubles was definitely a test for us; once we got to singles, we jumped out to big leads and played well with those leads. It is nice to get a win on the road against a good program; when you do that, it is a good situation to be in.”
UP NEXT
Kansas tennis will host Nebraska on Wednesday, February 26, at 4 p.m., at the Jayhawk Tennis Center located at Rock Chalk Park.
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