Jayhawk Netters Split Up For Weekend Tournaments
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s tennis will send six athletes to two tournaments Sept. 25-27 as the fall season continues. A pair of Jayhawks will head to the Oklahoma Invitational in Norman, Oklahoma, while four KU netters will trek to Little Rock, Arkansas, for the Little Rock Invitational.
“We are really excited about this weekend and the opportunity for all our players to compete,” said Kansas head coach Todd Chapman. “Both tournaments we are playing in will be extremely tough and a big test for us. I think the girls are excited to compete against someone other than their teammates. They have been practicing really well and really hard in preparation for this challenge.”
Sophomore Smith Hinton and freshman Nina Khmelnitckaia will represent Kansas at the Oklahoma Invitational. Hinton, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, was one of KU’s top players as a freshman, compiling an 11-7 singles mark and picking up Big 12 Co-Player of the Week honors after helping the Jayhawks defeat in-state rival Kansas State. Khmelnitckaia, who hails from Moscow, Russia, is an impressive newcomer who comes to KU after being ranked in the Top 40 of the Russian National 18-and-Under rankings.
The Oklahoma Invitational will take place at the Headington Family Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. Athletes from the following schools will be participating in the tournament: Texas Tech, TCU, Oklahoma State, North Texas, Wichita State, SMU, Kansas State and Oklahoma.
Senior Maria Jose Cardona, sophomore Summer Collins and freshmen Anastiya Rychagova and Janet Koch will travel to the Little Rock Invitational to represent Kansas.
Cardona and Collins opened the fall 2015 campaign for the Jayhawks at last week’s Midland Invitational. As a doubles team, the duo went 2-1 on the weekend and advanced to the semifinals. Cardona, who hails from Santiago, Chile, posted a 1-2 mark in singles play, while Collins, an Atlanta, Georgia, native, was 0-2 in two hard-fought matches.
Rychagova and Koch will be seeing their first collegiate action at the Little Rock Invitational. Rychagova, a Moscow, Russia, native, comes to KU after being ranked as high as No. 60 in the ITF Junior World Rankings. A Durbanville, South Africa native, Koch enters the collegiate ranks after being ranked as high as No. 152 in ITF Junior World Rankings and No. 3 in South Africa Junior Rankings.
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