The Kansas women’s tennis team, which is ranked No. 25 in the nation, got completely dominated in singles play during its lopsided loss to Arkansas Friday afternoon at the Billingsley Tennis Center. The Jayhawks fell in straight matches to the Razorbacks in a 7-0 defeat.
KU only won two sets in singles action against Arkansas after being narrowly edged in doubles play to start the day. Kansas dropped its two completed doubles matches by a 7-6 margin and a 7-5 score, while the third match went unfinished.
“Credit to Arkansas, they came out and took it to us in the singles,” head coach Todd Chapman said in a team release. “With that being said, I hope our players are as disappointed as the coaching staff is with our competitiveness. We didn’t compete in singles in a way that is expected at Kansas.”
KU dropped to 0-1 in dual action this season. Arkansas, meanwhile, improved to 2-0 on the year. Kansas will be back in action on Sunday, when it travels to face Tulsa at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
The match is slated to begin at 10 a.m.
“Obviously, it is very early in the season, but we have to decide quickly what we want our identity to be,” Chapman added. “We have to respond quickly because we (face) a tough Tulsa team on Sunday.”
DOUBLES
Indianna Spink/Morgan Cross def. #49 Malkia Ngounoue/Carmen Roxana Manu, 7-6 (7-2)
Kelly Keller/Tatum Rice def. Sonia Smagina/Vasiliki Karvouni, 7-5
Tiffany Lagarde/Julia Deming vs. Lauren Alter/Jackie Carr, 6-5, unfinished
SINGLES
Indianna Spink def. Malkia Ngounoue, 6-2, 6-4
Kelly Keller def. #81 Sonia Smagina, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (9-7)
Tatum Rice def. Carmen Roxana Manu, 6-2, 6-2
Morgan Cross def. Tiffany Lagarde, 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-2)
Lauren Alter def. Vasiliki Karvouni, 6-2, 6-1
Jackie Carr def. Julia Deming, 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (10-5)