No. 9 Oklahoma State knocks No. 31 Kansas out of Big 12s
Anastasia Rychagova mounted a comeback against her OSU opponent.
No. 9 Oklahoma State 4, No. 31 Kansas 0
Headington Family Tennis Center
Norman, Okla.
April 28, 2017
DOUBLES
| No. 1 | #10 Babic/Tur Mari (OSU) vs. #35 Bernard-Feigenbaum/Khmelnitckaia (KU) DNF 4-2 |
| No. 2 | #39 Blanco/Bolsova (OSU) def. Koch/Rychagova (KU) 6-2 |
| No. 3 | #63 Adamovic/Lushkova (OSU) win by forfeit |
Order of Finish: 3, 2
SINGLES
| No. 1 | #7 Lushkova (OSU) vs. #73 Rychagova (KU) DNF 6-2, 5-6 |
| No. 2 | #49 Adamovic (OSU) def. Bernard-Feigenbaum (KU) 6-1, 6-4 |
| No. 3 | #70 Bolsova (OSU) vs. Koch (KU) DNF 6-4, 3-6 |
| No. 4 | #69 Ruppert (OSU) vs. Khmelnitckaia (KU) DNF 7-6 (7-1), 3-1 |
| No. 5 | Stresnakova (OSU) def. Nikolaeva (KU) 7-5, 6-2 |
| No. 6 | Tur Mari (OSU) win by forfeit |
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 5
Stats Box Score (.PDF)
NORMAN, Okla. – No. 31 Kansas women’s tennis team continued to battle against No. 9 Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship Friday, but the rally fell short with the Jayhawks dropping the match, 4-0, at the Headington Tennis Center.
Showing Kansas’ fight was sophomore Janet Koch at the No. 3 singles spot. After losing her first set, 6-4, Koch battled with No. 70 Aliona Bolsova in the second set to win, 6-4, which would have forced a third set if the match had continued.
“In singles we did a really good job of competing on every court,” said head coach Todd Chapman. “We had a lot of opportunities, some of those we converted, some of those we didn’t, but once again when you’re playing a really good team, one of best teams in the country as Oklahoma State is, you have to be willing to be bold and really go for things in those situations. At times we made some careless errors or weren’t willing to go for shots. It came back to bite us a little bit.”
Next to Koch on court one, No. 73 Anastasia Rychagova followed suit with a second-set comeback. Rychagova shook off her first-set loss by winning three-straight games in the second set against No. 7 Viktoriya Lushkova. Play was stopped at 2-6, 6-5 with the Cowgirls clinching the match.
Freshman Tatiana Nikolaeva came out strong in her first set, but wasn’t able to top Katarina Stresnakova at the No. 5 spot, falling, 7-5, 6-2, in the decisive match point. Senior Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum took the lead in the second set after winning two back-to-back games, but couldn’t maintain the momentum and dropped her match against No. 49 Katarina Adamovic, 6-1, 6-4.
The duo of Rychagova and Koch wasn’t able to overcome the No. 39-ranked team of Sofia Blanco and Bolsova at the No. 2 spot, losing the match, 6-2. With a forfeit at the No. 3 doubles spot, OSU took the doubles point and then extended its lead, 2-0, due to a KU forfeit at the No. 6 singles spot.
“I thought in doubles we started a little slow, especially at No. 2 doubles and Oklahoma State definitely had something to do with that,” said Chapman. “We just didn’t play with the energy and emotion we needed (in doubles). A really good team is going to take advantage of that.”
Sophomore Nina Khmelnitckaia had a commanding 5-2 lead in the first set, but dropped it, 7-6 (7-1) to No. 69 Lena Ruppert at the No. 4 spot.
On Tuesday, the Jayhawks will find out the fate of their season as the NCAA Tournament Selection Show is at 4:30 p.m., CT.
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