Kansas Battles Before Falling to UNLV, 4-3
| UNLV 4, Kansas 3 Fertitta Tennis Complex Feb. 6, 2015 |
| Doubles |
| No. 1 – Maria Jose Cardona/Maria Belen Luduena (Kansas) def. Anett Ferenczi-Bako/Alexis Garrett (UNLV) 6-4 |
| No. 2- Iren Kotseva/Santa Shumilina (UNLV) def. Madison Harrison/Smith Hinton (Kansas) 6-3 |
| No. 3 – Merecedes Lopez Velez/Paola Artiga (UNLV) def. Summer Collins/Rachel McNeely (Kansas) 6-4 |
| Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3 |
| Singles |
| No. 1 – Santa Shumilina (UNLV) def. Maria Jose Cardona (Kansas) 6-3, 7-5 |
| No. 2 – Maria Belen Luduena (Kansas) def. Anett Ferenczi-Bako (UNLV) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 |
| No. 3 – Madison Harrison (Kansas) def. Iren Kotseva (UNLV) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 |
| No. 4 – Paola Artiga (UNLV) def. Smith Hinton (Kansas) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 |
| No. 5 – Mercedes Lopez Velez (UNLV) def. Summer Collins (Kansas) 6-2, 6-7, |
| No. 6 – Alexis Garrett (UNLV) def. Rachel McNeely (Kansas) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 |
| Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 4, 6, 5 |
Las Vegas, Nev. – Kansas women’s tennis dug a hole for itself early against UNLV by dropping the doubles point, but the Jayhawks came fighting back in singles play before eventually falling 4-3 at the hands of the Rebels Friday afternoon at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on the UNLV campus.
“I thought we fought hard today,” said Kansas head coach Todd Chapman. “It came down to some missed opportunities in the doubles point. We lost number two doubles by losing three deuce points that really swung the game.”
In doubles action, Kansas opened play with a win on court one as junior Maria Jose Cardona and senior Maria Belen Luduena defeated UNLV’s Anett Ferenczi-Bako and Alexis Garrett. They led the pair of Rebels through the first half of the match before Ferenczi-Bako and Garrett tied it up 4-4. Cardona and Luduena were able to win the next two games on their way to claiming the 6-4 victory.
In the end, the Rebels took the doubles point with wins on both courts two and three. On court two, UNLV’s Iren Kotseva and Santa Shumilina were led the entire way, taking a 6-3 win over KU’s freshman duo of Madison Harrison and Smith Hinton. On court three, the Kansas pair of freshmen Summer Collins and Rachel McNeely appeared to be coming back from a 4-2 deficit, as they closed the gap to 5-4, before UNLV’s Mercedes Lopez Velez and Paola Artiga went on to win 6-4.
Despite losing the doubles point, Kansas came right back to take a 2-1 lead over UNLV by picking up wins on courts two and three. On court two, Luduena closed out the second set 6-3 by winning four-straight games after dropping the first set 6-1 to Ferenczi-Bako. She then went on to dominate in the third set, taking the point with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 score.
Harrison gave KU its second point of the day by taking court three. It was a back and forth affair as Harrison defeated UNLV’s Kotseva, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 to put KU in the lead 2-1.
UNLV’s Shumilina evened the score as she defeated KU’s Cardona 6-3, 7-5 on court one. Hinton took her first 6-2 over UNLV’s Artiga, but was unable to secure an overall victory as she fell 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 on court four.
With UNLV leading 3-2, the match came down to the third set on courts five and six. The Rebels were able to secure the win by taking court six Garrett defeated McNeely, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. Collins was victorious on court five, besting Velez 2-6, 7-6, 7-6, to make the final tally 4-3 in UNLV’s favor.
“In singles I thought we fought much harder and had much better energy,” said Chapman. “The effort was definitely there. A big point here and there I thought UNLV played more maturely and that was the difference in the match.”
KU will return to action at the Fertitta Tennis Complex Saturday for a match against New Mexico State. First serve is scheduled for noon.
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