No. 25 Texas stops No. 27 Kansas, 4-1

Anastasia Rychagova smiles after a 6-2 doubles win with Janet Koch.

No. 25 Texas 4, No. 27 Kansas 1
Whitaker Courts
Austin, Texas

April 21, 2017

 DOUBLES

No. 1 #30 Bernard-Feigenbaum/Khmelnitckaia (KU) def. #84 Granic/B. Turati (UT) 7-6 (7-5)
No. 2 Koch/Rychagova (KU) def. Koprcina/A. Turati (UT) 6-2
No. 3 UT win by forfeit

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1

 SINGLES

No. 1 #74 Rychagova (KU) vs. #40 B. Turati (UT) DNF 3-6, 6-4, 2-1
No. 2 #79 Koprcina (UT) def. Bernard-Feigenbaum (KU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 #72 Granic (UT) def. Koch (KU) 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 Khmelnitckaia (KU) vs. A. Turati (UT) DNF 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 1-2
No. 5 Wagland (UT) def. Nikolaeva (KU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
No. 6 Roldan (UT) win by forfeit

Order of Finish: 6, 3, 2, 5
 Stats Box Score (.PDF)

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 27 Kansas women’s tennis had a quick start to the match Friday with two doubles wins, but wasn’t able to rally in singles, ultimately falling to No. 25 Texas, 4-1, on the Whitaker Courts.
 
Sophomore duo of Anastasia Rychagova and Janet Koch cruised to a 6-2 win over Neda Koprcina and Anna Turati at the No. 2 spot. The No. 30-ranked team of Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum and Nina Khmelnitckaia fought hard at the No. 1 spot to tie the match and force a tiebreaker. The Jayhawk pair came out on top, 7-6 (7-5), over No. 84 Petra Granic and Bianca Turati to give Kansas its only point of the day.
 
“I thought we started with great energy in doubles,” said head coach Todd Chapman. “It’s a little disappointing that we didn’t convert our doubles play early in the singles matches. Give credit to Texas. I thought they really controlled the first 30 minutes of the singles.”
 
Still without a complete lineup, KU had to forfeit the singles point at the No. 6 spot, tying the match, 1-1. Playing at the No. 3 spot, Koch wasn’t able to top the Longhorns’ No. 72-ranked Granic, dropping the match, 6-1, 6-2. Bernard-Feigenbaum also couldn’t overcome her opponent at the No. 2 spot, losing the match, 6-2, 6-3, to No. 79 Koprcina.
 
“After digging a 1-3 match hole, I was extremely proud of the fight of Nastia (Rychagova), Nina, and Tanya (Nikolaeva) to finish the match,” said Chapman. “I thought all three competed at a level that allowed us to get back into the match and created opportunities for us to be successful as a team.”
 
With Texas up, 3-1, the Jayhawks started to rally after Rychagova, Khmelnitckaia and Tatiana Nikolaeva all won their respective second sets to force a third. After a battle at the No. 5 spot, UT’s Dani Wagland topped Nikoleava, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to clinch the match for Texas, halting the KU comebacks at the No. 1 and 4 spots.
 
Kansas will stay in Texas as it will face No. 18 Baylor at 1 p.m., Sunday, at the Hurd Tennis Center.
 
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