Jayhawks Travel to Kansas State for Sunflower Showdown

No. 63 Kansas at Kansas State
Time	Noon
Date	April 19
Location	Manhattan, Kan.
Arena	K-State Tennis Center
Series	Kansas leads, 40-12
Notes	Kansas Notes

THE BASELINE
To conclude regular Big 12 conference play, No. 63 Kansas women’s tennis will travel to in-state rival Kansas State on April 19 at noon in the K-State Tennis Center. The competition marks the last match before Kansas travels to TCU for the Big 12 Women’s Tennis Championship.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, Kansas (11-10, 2-6 Big 12) visited No. 34 Texas Tech on April 11 at the McLeod Tennis Center and No. 54 TCU on April 13 at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

Texas Tech eased past the Jayhawks to claim a 7-0 victory, but not before the Kansas duo of seniors Dylan Windom and Paulina Los notched a victory over 47th-ranked Kenna Kilgo and Samantha Adams at the No. 1 court. In singles, the Lady Raiders shined, collecting wins on all six courts to clinch their fifth Big 12 win of the season.

The Jayhawks then traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, to meet the TCU Horned Frogs. Kansas started out strong, claiming the doubles point with wins on the first two courts. But TCU came back with vengeance in the singles competition, claiming victory on all but one court in singles. Kansas’ lone win in singles came from sophomore Anastasija Trubica on the sixth court where she swept Kit Snyder, 6-0, 6-0.

THE SERIES: KANSAS VS. KANSAS STATE
The Jayhawks hold a commanding 40-12 lead over Kansas State (8-12, 2-6 Big 12) in the all-time series. But in the past five matches, the Wildcats have come out on top.

Last March, KU hosted KSU at the Jayhawk Tennis Center where the Jayhawks dropped to the Wildcats, 4-3. Kansas opened the competition with two wins in doubles to give them the early advantage, but KU couldn’t hold on. Kansas State took four singles courts and the Jayhawks only claimed two from Windom and then-senior Victoria Khanevskaya.

This fall at the ITA Central Regionals, sophomore Maria Jose Cardona met KSU’s then-No. 12 Petra Niedermayerova where Cardona fell, 6-3, 6-2.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
This season, Kansas State has notched wins over then-No. 32 Wichita State (4-3) and No. 55 Fresno State (4-2). To begin Big 12 competition, KSU defeated West Virginia (4-3) and Iowa State (5-2), but are currently on seven-match losing streak.

Niedermayerova leads the Wildcats in singles and has been ranked as high as No. 12 on the ITA singles charts this season. Niedermayerova is currently 22-9 this season, and has gone 13-5 at the No. 1 singles position. In her career, Niedermayerova touts an impressive 102-42 singles record. Palma Juhasz plays No. 2 for the Wildcats and has posted a 13-15 record this season including going 2-7 on the second court.

In doubles, Niedermayerova and partner Amina St. Hill play at No. 1 and boast an overall 8-5 mark this season and have gone 2-4 in Big 12 play.

A KANSAS WIN WOULD…
Currently Kansas and Kansas State are in a tie for seventh place in the Big 12 standings, making this weekend’s competition the deciding match for seventh or eighth place. A Kansas win would be the highest finish for KU since the Jayhawks tied for sixth in 2011.

UPSET SPECIAL
Seniors Paulina Los and Dylan Windom upset their first ranked doubles foe of the season in their match against Texas Tech’s reigning Big 12 doubles champions and 47th-ranked Kenna Kilgo and Samantha Adams. Windom and Los ran past Kilgo and Adams, 8-6. Riding the momentum from the Texas Tech victory, the senior duo continued to TCU where they routed Stefanie Tan and Seda Arantekin, 8-4.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR
On April 20, Kansas traveled to Morgantown, W. Va., for its first match against the West Virginia Mountaineers. KU ran past WVU, 6-1, while snapping a 21-match Big 12 losing streak. The Jayhawks claimed the doubles point after West Virginia forfeited the match on court three. In singles, Kansas notched five wins and only suffered one setback on court four to give WVU its lone victory.

VINTAGE STOCK

The then-unranked Jayhawks upset then-No. 36 Nebraska on the road, 4-3 in their dual season opener. The win was the largest upset for Kansas in ten years and only the third time in a decade KU defeated a top-50 team. Previously, Kansas defeated No. 46 New Mexico on March 9, 2008, and No. 48 Oklahoma on March 18, 2005.
KU’s No. 33 ranking on March 3 was the highest ranking the Jayhawks have reached in program history. The Jayhawks previously broke the record a week prior when they were pegged at No. 45; they debuted on the charts at No. 70 on Feb. 11.
The Jayhawks were picked to tie Kansas State for seventh place in the Big 12 preseason poll, as voted by the conference coaches.
Kansas opened its 2013-14 season on an eight-match winning streak before losing to current 34th-ranked Kentucky, 4-0. The Jayhawks’ opening run ties them for the second longest opening win streak since the program’s first season in 1977.
To open the dual match season, senior Claire Dreyer went on a ten-match win streak before falling to Marcelina Cichon of No. 19 Tulsa on March 8.
In TennisRecruiting.net’s Top 25 Women’s Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2014, Kansas’ recruiting class received 76 votes, leaving it just one spot (six votes) below the Top 25 and 32 votes ahead of the next-highest vote-getter.

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