Kansas Tennis Edged by No. 68 Colorado, 4-2
| No. 68 Colorado 4, No. 75 Kansas 2 Rocky Mountain Tennis Center Feb. 22, 2015 |
| Doubles |
| No. 1 – Maria Jose Cardona/Maria Belen Luduena (KU) def. Julyette Steur/Kyra Wojcik (CU) 7-6 |
| No. 2- Madison Harrison/Smith Hinton (KU) def. Alexandra Aiello/Ashley Tiefel (CU) 6-3 |
| No. 3 – Vitalyia Alkhovik/Erin Strachan (CU) def. Alexis Czapinski/Rachel McNeely (KU) 7-6 |
| Order of Finish: 2,3,1 |
| Singles |
| No. 1 – Maria Jose Cardona (KU) def. Julyette Steur (CU) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 |
| No. 2 – Alexandra Aiello (CU) def. Maria Belen Luduena (KU) 4-6, 6-3, 1-6 |
| No. 3 – Nuria Ormeno Ruiz (CU) def. Madison Harrison (KU) 6-3, 6-3 |
| No. 4 – Kyra Wojcik (CU) def. Smith Hinton (KU) 4-6, 0-6 |
| No. 5 – Vitalyia Alkhovik (CU) def. Rachel McNeely (KU) 7-5, 7-5 |
| No. 6 – Alexis Czapinski (KU) vs. Erin Strachan (CU) 6-4, 5-4 (unfinished) |
| Order of Finish: 3,2,4,1,5 |
Boulder, Colo. – No. 75 Kansas women’s tennis faced its third-straight ranked opponent Sunday afternoon, taking an early 1-0 lead over No. 68 Colorado before eventually falling 4-2 at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Complex.
KU jumped out to the early lead after taking the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Court two was first to finish as Jayhawk freshmen Madison Harrison and Smith Hinton took on Colorado’s Alexandra Aiello and Ashley Tiefel. The KU duo was able to break at 4-3, taking the win with a final score of 6-3.
Courts one and three both went into a tiebreak. CU evened the score as Vitalyia Alkhovik and Erin Strachan defeated KU’s Alexis Czapinski and Rachel McNeely, 7-6.
Quite the battle played out on court one as KU’s Maria Jose Cardona and Maria Belen Luduena were able to win the tie-break 7-6 over Colorado’s Julyette Steur and Kyra Wojckik and give the Jayhawks the doubles point.
Singles play was slow to develop as there were only three courts available to play on. Court three was first to finish as CU’s Nuria Ormeno Ruiz defeated KU’s Harrison 6-3, 6-3. Harrison was able to take an early lead in the first set, going up 3-2 before eventually falling to Ormeno Ruiz.
On court two Colorado’s Aiello was victorious over KU’s Luduena. Aiello won the first set 6-4, but Luduena took the second set, 6-3. Luduena lost her momentum and fell in the third set 6-1.
KU tallied their first singles win on court one in a three set match-up with KU’s Cardona defeating CU’s Steur. Steur slipped by Cardona in the first set, winning 7-5, but Cardona pulled the same in the second set. Cardona broke Steur when she took the lead 3-1 and closed out the match with a third set win 6-3.
On court four, CU’s Wojckik posted a dominant second-set shutout, winning the match 6-4, 6-0. The win on court four pushed Colorado’s lead to 3-2 with court five in its second set.
Colorado’s Alkhovik came back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set to defeat Kansas’ McNeely on court five. Alkhovic defeated McNeely 7-5, 7-5, to seal the 4-2 win for the Buffaloes.
Kansas will return home to the friendly confines of the Jayhawk Tennis Center for its next match. The Jayhawks will host Iowa on Monday, March 2. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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