Jayhawks Fall to 23rd-Ranked Gamecocks, 6-1

#23 South Carolina 6, Kansas 1
Linda Estes Tennis Center
Jan. 24, 2015
Doubles
No. 1 – Hadley Berg/Elixane Lechemia (South Carolina) def. Maria Jose Cardona/Maria Belen Ludueña (Kansas) 6-2
No. 2 – Meghan Blevins/Brigit Folland (South Carolina) def. Madison Harrison/Smith Hinton (Kansas) 7-6
No. 3 – Summer Collins/Rachel McNeely (Kansas) def. Ximena Siles Luna/Caroline Dailey 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
No. 1 – Elixane Lechemia (South Carolina) def. Maria Jose Cardona (Kansas) 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 – Caroline Dailey (South Carolina) def. Maria Belen Ludueña (Kansas) 7-6, 6-7, 10-8
No. 3 – Brigit Folland (South Carolina) def. Smith Hinton (Kansas) 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 – Madison Harrison (Kansas) def. Meghan Blevins (South Carolina) 1-6, 6-0, 3-0 (retired)
No. 5 – Hadley Berg (South Carolina) def. Rachel McNeely (Kansas) 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 – Ximena Siles Luna (South Carolina) def. Alexis Czapinski (Kansas) 6-0, 6-2
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 3,1

Albuquerque, N.M. – Kansas women’s tennis faced a tall task in Saturday afternoon’s match against 23rd-ranked South Carolina. Although the Jayhawks did not come out on top, falling, 6-1 to the Gamecocks, Kansas head coach Todd Chapman was encouraged by his young team’s performance.
 
“Today we created some opportunities to win more matches,” said Chapman, whose squad features just two upperclassmen. “When you are playing a Top 25, well-coached team, you have to finish things when you can if you want to get the W.”
 
Kansas started out strong in doubles play as the Jayhawks picked up a win on court three and battled to the end on court two before losing in a tie-breaker. South Carolina’s duo of Hadley Berg and Elixane Lechemia topped KU’s Maria Jose Cardona and Maria Belen Ludueña, 6-2. A pair of Jayhawk freshmen in Summer Collins and Rachel McNeely tallied the doubles win on court three, besting South Carolina’s Ximena Siles Luna and Caroline Dailey, 6-2. It was a back and forth affair on court two, but the Gamecocks captured the overall doubles point as freshman Madison Harris and Smith Hinton dropped a heartbreaker to Meghan Blevins and Brigit Folland of USC, 7-6.
 
“We had three match points to win the doubles, but just couldn’t make it happen,” said Chapman. “Our team energy was so much better today. No one is happy with starting the season off 0-2 so we are excited to get back and prepare for an important weekend in Las Vegas.”
 
Harrison was the lone Jayhawk to come out victorious in singles as she picked up a win over South Carolina’s Blevins 1-6, 6-0, 3-0 (retire) on court three. Ludueña had an intense battle on court two before eventually falling to USC’s Dailey, 7-6, 6-7, 10-8.
 
The Jayhawks will return to action in February when they travel to Las Vegas for a trio of matches. KU will take on UNLV (Feb. 6), Pacific (Feb. 7) and New Mexico State (Feb. 8).
 
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.