No. 65 Jayhawks Blank Mountaineers, 4-0
| #65 Kansas 4, West Virginia 0 Jayhawk Tennis Center March 22, 2015 |
| Doubles |
| No. 1 – Alexis Czapinski/Maria Belen Luduena (KU) def. Hailey Barrett/Carolina Lewis (WVU) 6-3 |
| No. 2- Madison Harrison/Smith Hinton (KU) def. Ikttesh Chahal/Habiba Shaker (WVU) 6-1 |
| No. 3 – Kaja Mrgole/Yvon Martinez (WVU) vs. Rachel McNeely/Summer Collins (KU) 5-3 unfinished |
| Order of Finish: 2,1 |
| Singles |
| No. 1 – Maria Belen Luduena (KU) def. Kaja Mrgole (ISU) 3-6, 6-4, 5-0 |
| No. 2 – Smith Hinton (KU) vs. Hailey Barrett (WVU) 4-6, 7-6, 4-0 unfinished |
| No. 3 – Madison Harrison (KU) def. Ikttesh Chahal (WVU) 6-3, 6-2 |
| No. 4 – Habiba Shaker (WVU) vs. Summer Collins (KU) 6-2, 2-6, 5-5 unfinished |
| No. 5 – Rachel McNeely (KU) vs. Caroline Lewis (WVU) 6-7, 4-5 unfinished |
| No. 6 – Alexis Czapinski (KU) def. Yvon Martinez (WVU) 6-3, 6-1 |
| Order of Finish: 3,6,1 |
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – The 65th-ranked Kansas women’s tennis team used a fast start and a come-from-behind singles win to blank West Virginia, 4-0, Sunday afternoon at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. The win improves KU to 6-8 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
“I thought the biggest thing today was that we fought and at the end of the day that was what won us the match,” said Kansas head coach Todd Chapman. “It was 4-0 but that was a heck of a lot closer than 4-0. West Virginia played well and I felt like it could’ve gone either way.”
Kansas got out to a hot start taking early leads on all three doubles courts. After clinching wins on courts one and two the Jayhawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Mountaineers heading into singles play.
KU’s freshman duo of Smith Hinton and Madison Harrison made quick work of West Virginia’s Ikttesh Chahal and Habiba Shaker, 6-1 on court two. Courts one and three were more of a back and forth affair, but the Jayhawk duo of senior Maria Belen Luduena and freshman Alexis Czapinski pulled away of WVU’s Hailey Barrett and Carolina Lewis, 6-3.
Harrison kept the momentum going for Kansas as she defeated WVU’s Chahal on court three in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-2, to give the Jayhawks a 2-0 advantage. She was followed by Czapinski who recorded a win on court six. Czapinski defeated West Virginia’s Yvon Martinez, 6-3, 6-1, to push KU’s lead to 3-0.
Luduena, sealed the victory for Kansas, downing Mrgole in a three-set decision. After dropping the first set, 3-6, Luduena clawed her way back to steal the second set from an exasperated Mrgole, 6-4, forcing a third set. After jumping out 4-0 in the third set, Luduena eventually outlasted Mrgole, 6-0, clinching Kansas’ second-consecutive victory closing out the Jayhawks five-game home stand.
“I think the big thing is that Belen (Maria Belen Luduena) has matured this year and she doesn’t allow one set to affect the next,” said Chapman. “I feel like she’s doing a really good job of that when she gets leads she closes things out and doesn’t make things harder on herself. Mentally, she is approaching those situations in a much more mature way than she used too and much tougher mindset and I think that’s the key.”
Luduena was not the only Jayhawk to display stamina in singles action. Hinton dropped her first set to Chahal of West Virginia, 6-4, before coming back to win her second set, 7-6. Hinton was leading Chahal, 4-0, when Luduena captured the win for KU. Also pushing her match to a third set was fellow freshman Summer Collins. Collins fell, 6-2, to WVU’s Shaker in her opening set, but stormed back to win the second set, 6-2. The pair was tied at 5-5 in third set when KU took the victory.
Kansas will hit the road for a pair of matches as they travel to Texas to take on North Texas and SMU. The Jayhawks will play at North Texas on Friday, March 27 and at SMU on Saturday, March 28. First serve at North Texas is slated for 3 p.m..
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