LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas tennis battled back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat No. 35 BYU, 5-2 at the Jayhawk Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
The win gives No. 58 Kansas its second ranked victory this season, while improving to 5-8 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks hand BYU just its third loss of the season, as the Cougars fall to 12-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12.
“We feel like we’ve been knocking on the door and have been really close,” Head Coach Todd Chapman said. “Our backs were against the wall; in a way our season was on the line a little bit. It’s a testament to our team that they stepped up and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
BYU claimed the early advantage in doubles, as Heike Janse Van Vuuren and Jocelyn Massey were defeated by BYU’s Yujia Huang and Kaavya Sawhney, 6-2. The Cougars clinched the doubles point with another victory on court three, as Jasmine Adams and Maria Titova fell 6-4 to Tina Li and Kara Wheatley.
Kansas’ match on court one of Gracie Mulville and Kyoka Kubo went unfinished.
In singles play, Kansas faced an early deficit as BYU led on four courts following the first set. The Cougars strengthened their lead when Kansas sophomore Tamari Gagoshidze fell to BYU’s Emilee Astle on court six, 6-1, 6-4.
The Jayhawks battled back with a strong win from Mulville on court one, defeating No. 74 ranked Yujia Huang, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). The win marked Mulville’s third-consecutive win against ranked opponents after defeating No. 58 Vanesa Suarez of Kansas State and No. 85 Cristina Tiglea of Texas Tech.
Titova kept the momentum going for Kansas on court two, as she fought to a three-set victory over Tina Li, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 to bring the score to even at 2-2.
After dropping the first set on court three, Kubo rattled off two straight sets to defeat Kendall Kovick, 0-6, 6-1, 6-4. The victory improves Kubo to an impressive 12-1 in singles play in her freshman season and gave Kansas the advantage at 3-2.
With the 3-2 lead, Van Vuuren clinched the match on court four, battling to a 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 win over Sawhney to give Kansas the victory. Massey’s match vs. Wheatley on court five was played out as Massey came out victorious, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 to give Kansas the 5-2 win.
Kansas will continue its stretch of Big 12 play when the Jayhawks travel to Fort Worth, Texas to take on No. 65 TCU on March 22, followed by No. 26 Baylor in Waco, Texas on March 24. The Jayhawks then return home to the Jayhawk Tennis Center for a pair of ranked matches vs. No. 7 Texas on March 28 and No. 21 Oklahoma on March 30.
