Jayhawks Struggle in Day One of Invite

Midland Invitational | Day One Results
Sept. 13, 2013
Doubles
First Round:
Vickers/Enrique (Tulsa) def. Ludueña/ Windom (KU) (8-3)
Hermsdorf/Reed (Abiline Christian) def. Dreyer/ Trubica (KU) (8-7)
Santos/Czarniak (Texas Tech) def. Cardona/ Los (KU) (8-5)
Singles
First Round:
Claire Dreyer (KU) def. Giada D’Ortona (UT-Arlington) (6-2, 6-1)
Viktoryia Kisialeva (Baylor) def. Paulina Los (KU) 6-2, 6-1
Augustina Valenzuela (North Texas) def. Maria Belen Ludueña(KU) 3-6, 6-2, 10-7
Maria Jose Cardona (KU) def. Claire Williams (Texas Tech) 7-5,6-0
Jessica Kahts (Texas State) def. Anastasija Trubica (KU) 2-6, 6-1, 11-9
Maria Santanna (Tulsa) def. Dylan Windom (KU) 6-4, 6-4
Second Round:
Samantha Vickers (Tulsa) def. Claire Dreyer (KU) 6-3, 6-1
Mata Cutura (Pepperdine) def. Maria Jose Cardona (KU) 6-2, 1-6, 10-7
Consolations
Round One:
Astrid Gehre (UT-Arlington) def. Anastasija Trubica (KU) 2-6, 6-3, 11-9
Maria Belen Ludueña(KU) def. Hanna Victorsson (TCU) 6-1, 6-4
Dylan Windom, bye to round two
Paulina Los, bye to round two

MIDLAND, Texas – The Kansas women’s tennis team was unable to find their confidence after losing five matches to tie breaks during its fall season opener, Friday, at the Midland Invitational.

“We could have easily had a great day, but we didn’t win the close matches, we didn’t win the big point, we didn’t play them confidently,” said head coach Todd Chapman.

The invitational not only marked the first invite for the Jayhawks in their 2013-14 season, but also the first match action for Chapman, who is in his first year as head coach at Kansas.

Senior Claire Dreyer kicked off play first for the Jayhawks against Giada D’Ortona of UT-Arlington where she cruised through a 6-2, 6-1 win taking her to the second round. In the second round, Dreyer fell to No. 15 ranked and No. 1 seed, Samantha Vickers, of Tulsa (6-3, 6-1).

Maria Jose Cardona found success as well in the first round, beating Texas Tech’s Claire Williams (7-5, 6-0). In the second round, the competition proved to be tougher for Cardona who battled Mata Cutura of Pepperdine losing in a tie breaker, 6-2, 1-6, 10-7.

The rest of the singles play resulted in a struggle for the Jayhawks. Paulina Los was defeated by Baylor’s Viktoryia Kisialeva (6-2, 6-1) and Dylan Windom fell to Tulsa’s Maria Santanna (6-4, 6-4).

Two more tie-breakers occurred in singles play on Friday, with Maria Belen Ludueña‘s loss to Augustina Valenzuela of North Texas (3-6, 6-2, 10-7) and Anastasija Trubica‘s loss to Jessica Kahts from Texas State (2-6, 6-3, 11-9).

The KU team struggled as well in doubles play, unable to advance any of its three teams to the next round.

“We were in a lot of matches, with a lot of good competition. We competed well and put ourselves in that position to win, but we just couldn’t play as well in the big points in the close matches as we needed to,” Chapman said. “You can’t learn that in practice, you need to get out there and play other teams and put yourself in a position to get that experience.”

The four Jayhawks who were unable to advance to the second round competed in the consolation round, with the exception of Windom and Los who received a bye to the second round. Anastajia Trubica bounced back in the first round of consellations against Astrid Gehre of UT-Arlington, but it wasn’t enough as she fell to Gehre in a tie breaker. Maria Belen Luduena advanced after defeating Hanna Victorsson of TCU (6-1, 6-4).

Lack of confidence was the culprit, according to Chapman. The team is coming off of an 11-10 overall and 2-7 Big 12 record last season.

“There’s some doubt there. Doubt that we’re good enough,” said Chapman. “My message to them is we are good enough; they just have to believe that.”

UP NEXT

Los, Windom and Ludueña will continue on in consolation play at the Midland Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 14. Follow KUAthletics.com for updates on the Jayhawk match action.

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