Kansas Runs Past Liberty, 5-2

Kansas 5, Liberty 2
Jayhawk Tennis Center
Feb. 2, 2014
Doubles
No. 1 – Rebekah Jenkins/MariaKhval (Liberty) vs. Paulina Los/Dylan Windom (Kansas) 2-4 (DNF)
No. 2 – Maria Jose Cardona/Maria Belen Ludueña (Kansas) def. Brittany Yang/Valerie Thong (Liberty) 6-1
No. 3 – Claire Dreyer and Morgan Barnhill (Kansas) def. Nicola Wellman/Belen Rivera (Liberty) 6-2
Order of Finish: 2,3
Singles
No. 1 – Maria Jose Cardona (Kansas) def. Rebekah Jenkins (Liberty) 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 – Maria Khval (Liberty) def. Maria Belen Ludueña (Kansas) 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 – Belen Rivera (Liberty) def. Dylan Windom (Kansas) 4-6, 7-5 (10-8)
No. 4 – Paulina Los (Kansas) def. Nicola Wellman (Liberty) 6-3, 7-5
No. 5 – Claire Dreyer (Kansas) def. Brittany Yang (Liberty) 6-1, 7-5
No. 6 – Caroline Henderson (Kansas) def. Lauren Mabe (Liberty) 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 5, 3, 2, 6

Photo Gallery

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas women’s tennis extends its streak to 2-0 as the Jayhawks powered past the Liberty Lady Flames, Sunday afternoon in the Jayhawk Tennis Center.

Kansas’ (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) win over Liberty (3-2, 0-0 Big South) marks the second-consecutive year the Jayhawks have opened their dual slate undefeated. 

“We’re excited that we won,” said head coach Todd Chapman. “We’re 2-0 and that’s where we hoped to be going into this weekend. I thought the girls did a good job coming out in the doubles and singles and establishing ourselves. We were playing the right style.” 

In doubles play, Maria Jose Cardona and Maria Belen Ludueña jumped out first, winning their doubles match, 6-1. Claire Dreyer and Morgan Barnhill claimed victory next against LU’s Nicola Wellman and Belen Rivera, 6-2. With Dreyer and Barnhill’s win, Kansas clinched the doubles point. On court one, Paulina Los and Dylan Windom battled with Rebekah Jenkins and Maria Khval until the match was called after Kansa won two out of the three doubles matches.

In singles, Los struck first, downing Wellman, 6-3, 7-5 to put the Jayhawks 2-0. No. 1 singles player, Cardona, won a back-and-forth match against Rebekah Jenkins, 6-2, 6-4.  Dreyer finished her opening weekend undefeated after winning her fourth and final match against Brittany Yang, 6-1, 7-5. When the Jayhawks pulled up 4-0, the Lady Flames retaliated. Windom fell to Rivera in a super tiebreaker, 4-6, 7-5 (10-8) and Ludueña was defeated by Khval, 7-5, 6-2. With the score set at 4-2, freshman Caroline Henderson started her first home match as a Jayhawk. In an emotional two set match, Henderson fought for a 6-4, 6-4 win to give the Jayhawks a 5-2 win over Liberty.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will kick off a three-match homestand with Colorado, Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. Kansas will then continue match-action on Sunday, Feb. 9 against Eastern Michigan and UMKC at the Jayhawk Tennis Center.

KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos, and much, much more.