Rychagova one win away from advancing to main draw

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIF. – Kansas sophomore Anastasia Rychagova collected a pair of wins on the first day of qualifying singles Tuesday and is one win away from a spot in the main draw at the 2016 Riviera ITA Women’s All-American Championship.
 
Ranked No. 49 in the preseason ITA rankings, Rychagova topped No. 69 Paige Cline of South Carolina (6-2, 6-4) to advance to the round of 32. Rychagova defeated Ohio State’s No. 79 Gabriella De Santis (6-2, 6-2) to move on to play for a qualifying spot.
 
“Nas (Rychagova) has been so focused on the process, the process of improving incrementally throughout her matches and practices,” KU assistant coach Caroline Lilley said. “She did a really good job of competing and controlling her controllables today (Tuesday).”
 
Rychagova faces North Carolina freshman Sara Daavettila Wednesday at 1:45 p.m., CT for a spot in the main draw that begins on Thursday.
 
With a win, Rychagova would become the first Jayhawk to compete in the main draw at the ITA All-American Championships since Eveline Hamers in 1990. Hamers dropped a two-set match to Emile Viqueira from California in the quarterfinal that season.
 
The No. 56-ranked sophomore doubles team of Nina Khmelnitckaia and Janet Koch fell short against Mariana Gould and Eleni Christofi of Georgia, 8-4. Kansas started out strong, going up 3-0, but the Bulldog duo was able to rally past the Jayhawks. Khmelnitckaia and Koch will play a consolation match against UNLV’s duo of Carol Zi Yang and Aiwen Zhu on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.,CT.
 
“We have continued to improve throughout the tournament so far,” said Lilley. “Janet (Koch) and Nina (Khmelnitckaia) played really aggressive doubles today (Tuesday) and will only continue to execute better as they put themselves in situations to dictate.”
 
Tuesday Results
Singles
Anastasia Rychagova (KU) def. Paige Cline (USC), 6-2, 6-4
Anastasia Rychagova (KU) def. Gabriella De Santis (OSU), 6-2, 6-2
 
Doubles
Gould/Christofi (UGA) def. Khmelnitckaia/Koch (KU), 8-4
 
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.