No. 23 Kansas faces two ranked opponents on the road
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Senior Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum brings a 12-3 spring singles record and a seven-match win streak to No. 23 Kansas’ two road matches this weekend against two nationally ranked Big 12 Conference teams.
The Jayhawks (11-4, 3-1 Big 12) will face No. 41 Oklahoma (10-6, 0-4 Big 12) at 5 p.m., Friday, at the Headington Family Tennis Center. Before leaving Oklahoma, KU will make a stop in Stillwater to play No. 9 Oklahoma State (15-4, 3-1 Big 12) at 1 p.m., Sunday, at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
“We definitely have our hands full this weekend against two quality opponents on the road,” said head coach Todd Chapman. “We’re going to have to bring our best effort, best competitiveness and look to embrace the challenge. I think that’s what I’m excited to see – if we step up and do that. We had a week off and it’s exciting to get back on the court and compete as a team.”
Kansas leads the all-time series with the Sooners, 23-20, including a two-match win streak after topping OU, 4-1, last season. No. 30-ranked Lily Miyazaki has put together a 9-4 dual-match record at the No. 1 singles spot for OU. The Sooner’s doubles pair of Malene Strip and Julie Byrne own a 5-4 record playing on court one. Serena Nash and Ann Selim have teamed up to tally a 5-2 doubles record at the No. 3 spot.
“With playing a tough nonconference schedule and some of the tough conference matches we’ve played so far, we’ve seen some really good competition,” said Chapman. “We’re prepared to play tough matches like these on the road. That’s the reason the schedule was made the way it was, to prepare us for situations like this. With having some success on the road against good teams in the past this spring, we hope we can carry over that confidence this weekend.”
Oklahoma State, last year’s Big 12 Champions and NCAA Tournament runner-up, leads the overall series with Kansas, 30-16, including an eight-match win streak after a 4-0 win over the Jayhawks last season. The Cowgirls’ roster is home to four variations of ranked doubles teams in the top-55 and five nationally ranked singles players, including No. 7 Viktoriya Lushkova, No. 49 Aliona Bolsova, No. 52 Katarina Adamovic, No. 67 Vladica Babic and No. 84 Carla Tur Mari.
The match against OSU will mark the 16th ranked opponent sophomore Anastasia Rychagova has seen this season; she is 7-3 in those matches with five going unfinished.
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