No. 19 Jayhawks fall to No. 6 Texas Tech
Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum returns the game winner against Texas Tech.
No. 6 Texas Tech 4, No. 19 Kansas 2
Jayhawk Tennis Center
Lawrence, Kan.
March 12, 2017
DOUBLES
| No. 1 | #24 Federici/Dvorak (TTU) def. #50 Bernard-Feigenbaum/Khmelnitckaia (KU), 6-3 |
| No. 2 | #48 Talaba/Maltby (TTU) def. Koch/Nikolaeva (KU), 6-2 |
| No. 3 | Ribes/Rychagova (KU) vs. Valentstein/Cortina-Pou (TTU), 5-4 DNF |
Order of Finish: 2, 1
SINGLES
| No. 1 | #74 Rychagova (KU) vs. #17 Talaba (TTU), 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 3-3 DNF |
| No. 2 | Bernard-Feigenbaum (KU) def. #40 Maltby (TTU), 7-6, (7-2), 7-6 (7-3) |
| No. 3 | #109 Valenstein (TTU) def. Koch (KU) 6-3, 6-4 |
| No. 4 | Khmelnitckaia (KU) def. Dvorak (TTU), 6-4, 7-5 |
| No. 5 | Federici (TTU) def. Toran Ribes (KU), 6-4, 6-2 |
| No. 6 | Jackson (TTU) def. Nikolaeva (KU), 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 |
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 4, 2, 6
Stats Box Score (.PDF)
Lawrence, Kan. – Kansas senior Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum earned her highest win over a ranked opponent, but the Jayhawks suffered a hard-fought 4-2 loss against No. 6 Texas Tech at the Jayhawk Tennis Center Sunday.
“From the competitive standpoint and the way we fought, I couldn’t be happier with our team,” said head coach Todd Chapman. “We weren’t giving in while playing one of the best teams in the country. I’m proud of the fight. There’s nothing to hang our heads about and I’m proud to be their coach.”
At No. 2 singles, Bernard-Feigenbaum defeated No. 40 Felicity Maltby, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3). Bernard-Feigenbaum was down 5-1 in the second set before rattling off four-straight sets to even the score, 5-5, which eventually led to her second-winning tiebreaker of the match.
“She (Bernard-Feigenbaum) gave up some loose points,” said Chapman. “She was making some quicker errors than she had been throughout the whole match. She was making it a little easier on the player from Tech and not making that player work as hard as she had been. Then, I think she started competing, got in a rhythm, found her grove and started dictating play really well.”
Nina Khmelnitckia controlled her first set and gutted out the second, topping the Lady Raiders’ Sarah Dvorak, 6-4, 7-5. No. 74 Anastasia Rychagova battled against No. 17-ranked Gabriela Talaba. After dropping the first set (6-1), Rychagova bounced back in the second (7-6) to force and win an 8-6 tiebreaker. A winner was unable to be decided as Texas Tech scored the match-winning point with the third set knotted, 3-3.
“She’s (Rychagova) competitive every match,” said Chapman. “She’s always going to compete and never going to give in. That’s what she’s brought match-in and match-out this spring. That’s really tough to do when you’re playing the type of player she’s playing. I was proud to see her come back and have momentum as the match finished.”
After dropping the first set, Tatiana Nikolaeva won the second to force a third set at the No. 6 spot. Nikolaeva and Katelyn Jackson played an even third set with Texas Tech coming out on top, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, to give the Lady Raiders their fourth point of the match. Kansas fell to 7-4 and 1-1 in Big 12 Conference play, while Texas Tech improved to 12-3 and 2-0, respectively.
Texas Tech took the doubles point after wins on courts one and two. On court one, No. 50-ranked Bernard-Feigenbaum and Khmelnitckaia were not able to top the No. 24 team of Sabrina Federici and Dvorak dropping the match, 6-3. At the No. 2 spot, Janet Koch and Nikolaeva couldn’t overcome the Lady Raiders’ No. 48-ranked doubles pair of Talaba and Maltby losing the match, 6-2.
“I thought we got off to a slow start in doubles (Sunday),” said Chapman. “I think we’re better than what we showed. Some of that was Texas Tech, I don’t want to take credit away from them. We’ve played better doubles than that consistently this spring and I’d like to see us play with the same fight. I thought we finished pretty well. We got off to slow starts and just have to get better at that, coming out of the gate quicker.”
Koch dropped her match at No. 3 singles to Texas Tech’s No. 109 player, Alex Valenstein, 6-3, 6-4. Maria Toran Ribes wasn’t able to top Federici and dropped the match, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 5 position.
The Jayhawks will travel to Denton, Texas where they will face Columbia, in a neutral site match, at 11 a.m., on Saturday, March 18 and North Texas at 12 p.m., Sunday, March 19.
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