Three Jayhawks selected for NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships
INDIANAPOLIS – Three members of the Kansas women’s tennis have qualified to participate at the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championships from May 23-28 at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Anastasia Rychagova earned an at-large bid for the singles field and is seeded as the No. 8 player for the tournament. In doubles, Rychagova and Nina Khmelnitckaia were also selected for the competition with an at-large bid. Despoina Vogasari was named the fifth alternate for the championships.
“What a great couple of days for the KU tennis program,” said head coach Todd Chapman. “To have a singles player be a top-8 seed, a doubles team selected and a singles alternate, shows the direction these young ladies are taking our program. Nas (Rychagova), Nina and Deb (Vogasari) have had great years and have worked extremely hard for this recognition. They are all worthy of their selections.”
Rychagova holds an 18-3 overall record, including 8-1 in dual play and 11-2 against nationally ranked opponents. This season, Rychagova was ranked as the No. 1 singles player in the nation after advancing to the main draw at the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American where she eventually was named the Main Draw Consolation Champion.
Vogasari owns an overall mark of 24-9, is 13-4 in duals and is currently on a 10-match win streak, the longest of her collegiate career. In the fall, Vogasari won six-consecutive matches to advance to the finals at the ITA Central Regional. In dual play, Vogasari earned her highest-ranked win against an opponent when she defeated No. 11-ranked Gabriela Talaba of Texas Tech, 6-2, 6-2, on March 23.
Together they have compiled a 15-4 overall record, including 8-2 in dual-play at the No. 1 position. Both Jayhawks earned career-high rankings in doubles when they were named the No. 12 tandem in the nation on April 10, 2018, by the ITA.
Last season at the NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Doubles Championship, Khmelnitckaia and partner Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum upset the No. 2-seeded team of Jasmine lee and Lisa Marie Rioux of Mississippi State, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8. The last time Kansas had doubles teams selected in back-to-back years for the NCAA Tournament was in 1993-94. In 1994, Rebecca Jensen and Nora Koves went on to win the national title.
Rychagova became the first Jayhawk player since Kylie Hunt in 1998, to be selected for the singles field.
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