The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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#20 Kansas
No. 7 Women’s Tennis falls in Big 12 Championship final
04.21.2019 | Women's Tennis
UT drops a hard-fought 4-2 decision at No. 20 Kansas in Sunday’s championship match.
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The No. 7 University of Texas women's tennis team dropped a hard-fought 4-2 decision against No. 20 Kansas (18-4) in the Big 12 Championship match on Sunday afternoon at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. The match was moved indoors due to high winds in the Lawrence area.
Texas (18-4), the outright Big 12 regular-season champion for the second consecutive season, had its 12-match win streak snapped in the loss. The Longhorns were attempting to capture their 11th Big 12 Conference Tournament championship.
Kansas grabbed an early 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. Malkia Ngounoue and Maria Toran Ribas registered a 6-3 victory against junior Petra Granic and sophomore Bojana Markovic at third doubles.
KU's No. 71-ranked pair of Anastasia Rychagova and Sonia Smagina clinched the point with a 6-2 win against sophomore Fernanda Labraña and freshman Tijana Spasojevic at second doubles. The No. 59-ranked duo of junior twin sisters Anna Turati and Bianca Turati trailed Kansas' No. 3-ranked tandem of Janet Koch and Nina Khmelnitckaia by a 5-2 score when the point was decided.
No. 53 Granic got the Longhorns on the board with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win against Ploburng Plipuech at third singles. Granic won her ninth-straight singles match and improved to 15-1 in dual-match singles action this spring.
The Jayhawks responded with a pair of straight-set wins to build a 3-1 lead. With the opening set tied a 4-4, Smagina won eight-consecutive games to close out a 6-4, 6-0 victory against Markovic at fourth singles. Khmelnitckaia followed with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Labraña at fifth singles.
No. 37 Anna Turati gave the Longhorns their second point with an impressive 6-2, 6-3 win against No. 104 Koch at second singles. Turati won her 17th-consecutive singles match and improved to 18-2 in dual-match singles play this spring.
Toran Ribas provided the clinching point for the Jayhawks by rallying for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory against senior Katie Poluta at sixth singles. After the two players split the first two sets, Poluta held leads of 3-0 and 4-2 in the deciding third set. Toran Ribas won four-consecutive games to close out the match.
No. 29 Bianca Turati and No. 22 Rychagova had their back-and-forth match at first singles stopped after Kansas clinched the dual-match win. Rychagova posted a 6-4 win in the opening set and held a 6-5 lead in the second set when the dual match was decided.
The bracket for the upcoming 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship will be announced during the selection show on Monday, April 29 at 5:30 p.m. Central. UT is expected to be a host site for the NCAA First & Second Rounds on May 3-5.
Bianca Turati is scheduled to compete in the ITF (International Tennis Federation) 25k pro circuit event this coming week in Osprey, Fla. The 32-player main singles draw at the clay court tourney is set for Tuesday, April 23 through Sunday, April 28.
#20 Kansas 4, #7 Texas 2
Singles – Order of finish (3-4-5-2-6)
- #29 Bianca Turati (UT) vs. #22 Anastasia Rychagova (KU), 4-6, 5-6 (unfinished)
- #37 Anna Turati (UT) def. #104 Janet Koch (KU), 6-2, 6-3
- #53 Petra Granic (UT) def. Ploburng Plipuech (KU), 6-1, 6-3
- Sonia Smagina (KU) def. Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-4, 6-0
- Nina Khmelnitckaia (KU) def. Fernanda Labraña (UT), 6-2, 6-4
- Maria Toran Ribas (KU) def. Katie Poluta (UT), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles – Order of finish (3-2)
- #59 Anna Turati/Bianca Turati (UT) vs. #3 Janet Koch/Nina Khmelnitckaia (KU), 2-5 (unfinished)
- #71 Anastasia Rychagova/Sonia Smagina (KU) def. Fernanda Labraña/Tijana Spasojevic (UT), 6-2
- Malkia Ngounoue/Maria Toran Ribas (KU) def. Petra Granic/Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-3
Players Mentioned
