The Kansas women’s tennis team got back in the win column with a 4-3 victory over Wichita State on Sunday at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. It was a nice response for the Jayhawks (2-2) after dropping a 5-2 decision to Denver on Friday.
“Whether it was our best tennis or not today, we competed much better today,” KU coach Todd Chapman said in a team release. “We needed to see some positives today and we had several players approach pressure situations much better than Friday.”
After dropping doubles point to Wichita State, KU took care of business by winning four matches in singles action. Carmen Roxana Manu earned the first point for the Jayhawks in No. 3 singles. KU’s Vaskiliki Karvouni then won in straight sets shortly after that.
Wichita State (3-4) evened the score back up, but Kansas responded when Sonia Smagina won her match in straight sets in No. 1 singles. Julia Deming then helped the Jayhawks clinch the narrow victory over an in-state foe.
Kansas will host Arizona at 3 p.m. Friday.
“We have to solve our doubles issue and we will,” Chapman said. “We will focus on a solid week of preparation and get ready for Arizona next Friday.”
Kansas 4, Wichita State 3
Singles competition
1: Sonia Smagina (KAN) def. Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva (WSU) 7-5, 6-3
2: Marta Bellucco (WSU) def. Malkia Ngounoue (KAN) 7-5, 6-2
3: Carmen Roxana Manu (KAN) def. Natsumi Kurahashi (WSU) 6-3, 6-2
4: Vasiliki Karvouni (KAN) def. Ting-Ya Hsu (WSU) 6-1, 6-2
5: Jie Xin Zheng (WSU) def. Tiffany Lagarde (KAN) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
6: Julia Deming (KAN) def. Alexandra Lazarova (WSU) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1: Marta Bellucco/Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva (WSU) def. Malkia Ngounoue/Carmen Roxana Manu (KAN) 6-4
2: Ting-Ya Hsu/Jie Xin Zheng (WSU) def. Sonia Smagina/Vasiliki Karvouni (KAN) 6-3
3: Tiffany Lagarde/Julia Deming (KAN) def. Alexandra Lazarova/Natsumi Kurahashi (WSU) 6-0
