Jayhawks Continue Road Swing to Meet Indiana, Central Florida

THE BASELINE
No. 39 Kansas women’s tennis continues its swing away from the Jayhawk Tennis Center at the University of Central Florida, where the Jayhawks will take on the Indiana Hoosiers at 10 a.m. on March 20 and the UCF Knights on March 21 at 3 p.m.

THE SERIES: KANSAS VS. INDIANA
The Indiana (12-4, 1-1) and Kansas (10-3, 2-0) series dates back to the 1986 season when the Hoosiers defeated the Jayhawks in their season opener, 7-2. In recent years, the Hoosiers have continued their dominance, leading Kansas 5-1 in all matches played, including a current three-match win streak over KU.

The pair most recently met in 2007 when the Jayhawks hosted IU in their season opener. The No. 43-ranked Hoosiers rolled past Kansas with a 6-1 win. KU’s lone singles victory came from Edina Horvath, who defeated IU’s Brianna Williams, 6-4, 6-3. Horvath also assisted Kansas in doubles, where she and partner Elizaveta Avdeeva defeated Indiana on the first court. The doubles win was Kansas’ only victory, as IU defeated Kansas on courts two and three.

SCOUTING THE HOOSIERS
The Hoosiers have notched two top-50 wins over No. 38 Kentucky, and most recently, No.  31 Purdue. The team has fallen to several top teams including No. 8 Northwestern (4-3), No. 27 Tennessee (3-4) and No. 23 Notre Dame.

Indiana is led by a collection of singles players, including Katie Klyczek, who boasts a 19-4 overall record and has gone 9-3 at the first court. No. 84 Sophie Garre touts a 21-3 overall and recently took the IU’s No. 2 spot in the team’s match against Purdue. Carolyn Chupa is IU’s No. 2 player, going 16-6 on the year and 5-4 on court two.

The duo of Klyczek and Chupa represent Indiana’s No. 1 doubles team. Together, the pair has gone 16-6 this season and 8-4 in dual play.

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
The Jayhawks will meet the Knights (4-7, 0-3) for the first time in program history. Following a 6-0 win over UNC Asheville, the Knights have lost two straight dual matches. UCF has also claimed victory at Florida Golf Coast (4-3) and Georgia Southern (5-2).

In singles, Josephine Haraldson runs the first court for the Knights, going 9-15 this season and 3-6 as the team’s No. 1 player.  Courtney Griffith runs the second court and has gone 9-15 in singles and 3-5 on court two.

Together, Haraldson and Griffith are UCF’s No. 1 doubles team with a 6-8 record this season including a 3-5 record in dual play.

KANSAS VS. OKLAHOMA STATE MATCH TO BE TELEVISED
For the first time in program history, a KU tennis match will be televised. The Jayhawks’ match against Big 12 foe Oklahoma State will appear on the Jayhawk Television Network on March 28 at 3:30 p.m. The match will be the first Big 12 contest the Jayhawks will host this season at the Jayhawk Tennis Center.

SENIOR STANDOUT: LOS MAKES IT COUNT
As her final year as a Jayhawk, Paulina Los has arisen an essential cog in the team’s success this season. The Gdansk,  Poland native is on a eight-match winning streak. In dual action, Los is 11-1. Her only loss came from Mariya Roncheva of Eastern Michigan.

Los closed out both singles wins last weekend with a 7-6(2), 6-3 win over West Virginia’s Ikttesh Chahal and a  6-1, 6-0 win over Iowa State’s Emma Waites.

DOUBLE THE TROUBLE
The doubles competition has proven to be a deciding point for the Jayhawks. Kansas is perfect when it wins the doubles point, as all 10 wins this season started with a win in the doubles competition. The team’s eight match season-opening win streak was accompanied by an eight-match doubles point streak. Both streaks ended when No. 38 Kentucky handed Kansas its first loss on Feb. 22. In KU’s three losses this season, Kansas was unable to collect the doubles point.

KANSAS PICKED TO TIE K-STATE FOR 7TH IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
Despite their top-50 ranking, the Jayhawks were picked to tie Kansas State for seventh place in the Big 12 preseason poll, as voted by the conference coaches.

THIS TIME, LAST YEAR
Similarly to this season, then-No. 68 Kansas traveled south to Hilton Head, S.C., to face three non-conference foes. The Jayhawks met the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Georgia Southern. Kansas began the weekend with a 4-1 win over NJIT and continued its momentum to blank GSU, 4-0.

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