Kansas City, Mo. ? For Kansas University’s tennis team, Saturday’s dual match against Texas A&M was all about confidence — who has it and who wants it.
The Aggies showed their swagger early and often as they beat the Jayhawks, 7-0, winning all six single matches and two of the three doubles showdowns.
With the win, the Aggies (17-9 overall, 9-2 Big 12 Conference) clinched at least a share of the regular-season league championship after first-place Baylor fell to Oklahoma State later in the day.
“I’m pleased in the momentum going into the conference tournament, but the match was closer than the score sounds,” A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said.
He pointed out that three of the six single matches went to a third set.
Kansas (7-11, 3-8) did have one winner, as the doubles team of senior Kim Lorenz and freshman Christine Skoda upended Aggie freshman Nicki Mechem and junior Danielle Lee, 8-5.
For the Jayhawks’ lone senior, it was her last regular-season match as a Jayhawk.
Lorenz said she would miss her teammates the most.
“We have so much fun together,” she said. “They influence my tennis so much.”
The match originally was scheduled to take place at the Robinson courts on the KU campus. Rainy weather, however, forced the schools to relocate to the indoor courts of the Carriage Club in Kansas City, Mo.
For Kansas, it was another quasi-home match (40 miles away from Lawrence), to the chagrin of Lorenz and the other players.
Out of the Jayhawks’ nine “home” matches, only one has been played at KU, a 5-2 loss last Saturday against Kansas State. Most have taken place in Topeka or Overland Park.
“We’re not used to playing in a bubble. We’re at a disadvantage just as Texas A&M is,” Lorenz said of the small, dome facility. “Being a Division One school, it’s unfortunate we don’t have adequate facilities. There’s just undesired conditions here.”
Kansas coach Kilmeny Waterman said she hopes her team can build off the close match in spite of what the scoreboard read.
“It was a good match,” Waterman said. “We have to use this as a positive going into this next week at the Big 12 tournament. We are ready to go to Kansas City with our goal being to reach the second round.”
Both teams will be right back in Kansas City, Mo., in four days for the Big 12 tournament April 24-27 at the Plaza Tennis Center.
“If they didn’t have school we’d just stay up here,” Kleinecke joked.
KU will have a No. 9 seed and play either Colorado or Missouri at noon Thursday. First-round pairings will be released Monday.
Saturday at Kansas City, Mo.
Texas A&M 7, Kansas 0
Jessica Roland, A&M, def. Courtney Steinbock, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Ashley Hedburg, A&M, def. Paige Brown, 6-0, 6-1.
Roberta Spencer, A&M, def. Emily Haylock, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Lauren Walker, A&M, def. Skoda, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
Mechem, A&M, def. Lorenz, 6-3, 6-0.
Seva Iwinski, A&M, def. Luiza Loureiro, 5-7, 6-2, (11-9).
Roland/Spencer, A&M, def. Haylock/Kristen Steinbock, 8-1.
Hedberg/Walker, A&M, def. Brown/C. Steinbock, 8-6.
Skoda/Lorenz, KU, def. Mechem/Lee, 8-5.
