North Texas Edges No. 75 Kansas, 4-3

 North Texas 4, #75 Kansas 3
Waranch Tennis Complex
March 27, 2015
Doubles
No. 1 – Kseniya Bardabush/Franziska Sprinkmeyer (UNT) def. Alexis Czapinski/Maria Belen Luduena (KU) 6-0
No. 2- Alexis Thoma/Anastasiya Shestakova (UNT) def. Madison Harrison/Smith Hinton (KU) 6-4
No. 3 –  Rachel McNeely/Summer Collins (KU) def. Agustina Valenzuela/Ana Sofia Cordero (UNT) 6-4
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
Singles
No. 1 – Maria Belen Luduena (KU) vs. Kseniya Bardabush (UNT)  6-7, 6-4
No. 2 – Anastasiya Shestakova (UNT) def. Smith Hinton (KU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 – Madison Harrison (KU) def. Agustina Valenzuela (UNT) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
No. 4 –  Summer Collins (KU) def. Alexis Thoma (UNT) 6-2, 6-7, 6-1
No. 5 – Franziska Sprinkmeyer (UNT) def. Rachel McNeely (KU) vs. 7-5, 7-6
No. 6 –  Kamilla Galieva (UNT) def. Alexis Czapinski (KU) 6-7, 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The 75th-ranked Kansas women’s tennis team dropped a close match to host North Texas, 4-3, Friday afternoon at the Waranch Tennis Complex. The Jayhawks dug themselves an early hole and fought back, but it was not enough as they were edged by one point by the Mean Green. 

North Texas took the doubles point with wins on court one and two. On court one, KU freshman Alexis Czapinski and senior Maria Belen Luduena gave up a quick win for the Eagles duo of Kseniya Bardabush and Franziska Sprinkmeyer, 6-0.

The Jayhawks put up a better fight on court two as freshman Madison Harrison and Smith Hinton took a 2-1 lead over Alexis Thoma and Anastasiya Shestakova for North Texas to open the match. The duo also tied it up at 4-4, but the Eagles tandem broke away, going on to win the match, 6-4. Kansas won on court three as Jayhawk freshmen Summer Collins and Rachel McNeely fell behind in the beginning of the match with UNT’s Agustina Valenzuela and Ana Sofia Cordero, but were able to pick it back up and claim a 6-4 win.  

Despite being down 1-0, Kansas came out swinging in singles play. First off the court was Hinton, who lost against UNT’s Sheskatkova, 6-3, 6-3.

With a 2-0 deficit, KU’s Harrison allowed UNT to go up 3-0 in her match against Valenzuela. She was able to tie it up at 5-5 in the second set and break to win 7-5. Harrison maintained momentum in the third set and won 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Court five was next off with McNeely for Kansas against Sprinkmeyer for North Texas. Each set was neck and neck with the first set ending at 7-5 in favor of McNeely and the second 7-6 in Sprinkmeyer’s favor.

Kansas triumphed on courts one and two, but it was unfortunately not enough. KU’s Luduena defeated UNT’s Bardabush after a long three-set match. The final score on court one was 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in favor of the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week..

The final win for Kansas was court four where Collins defeated UNT’s Thoma. This match also went into a third set, even though Collins was able to take the early first set win 6-2. Her opponent squeaked by and won the second set, 7-6, but Collins took an easy win 6-1 in the third. 

Kansas will stay in the state of Texas as it travels to No. 62 SMU Saturday. First serve between the Jayhawks and Mustangs is slated for 12 p.m., at the SMU Tennis Complex.  

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