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Kansas
No. 14 Women’s Tennis posts 6-1 victory at No. 19 Kansas
03.19.2023 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns drop the doubles point but rally to sweep all six singles matches.
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The No. 14 University of Texas Women's Tennis team recorded a 6-1 victory at No. 19 Kansas (11-3, 2-2 Big 12) on Sunday afternoon at the Jayhawks Tennis Center. The Longhorns dropped the doubles point but rallied to sweep all six singles matches and improve to 12-3 overall on the year and 3-1 in Big 12 Conference play.
The Jayhawks grabbed an early 1-0 advantage by claiming the doubles point. The No. 27-ranked duo of junior Charlotte Chavatipon and sophomore Sabina Zeynalova earned a 6-1 victory on court 2 over Maria Titova and Tamari Gagoshidze. Chavatipon and Zeynalova raced out to a 4-0 cushion and closed out the match with a service break on a deuce point to improve to 7-2 this spring in dual-match doubles action.
The tandem of Malkia Ngounoue and Heike Janse Van Vuuren claimed a 6-2 victory on court 1 over freshman Nicole Khirin and graduate Marlee Zein. This marked the first defeat in dual-match doubles play for Khirin and Zein who dropped to 4-1 this spring. Kansas clinched the doubles point when the pair of Roxana Manu and Jocelyn Massey earned a 6-4 win on court 3 against junior Taisiya Pachkaleva and freshman Nicole Rivkin. Tied at 3-3, Pachkaleva and Rivkin earned a service break to take a 4-3 advantage. Manu and Massey answered by winning the next three games to close out the match.
Junior Malaika Rapolu evened the overall dual-match score by opening singles play with a 6-0, 6-4 victory on court 5 over Gagoshidze. Trailing 4-3 in her second set, Rapolu won three-straight games to finish out her win. Rivkin followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court 6 against Massey. Rivkin jumped out to identical 3-0 leads in both of her sets and dominated her match from start to finish.
Khirin increased UT's advantage to 3-1 with an impressive 6-3, 6-4 victory on court 1 against No. 45-ranked Ngounoue. Tied at 2-2 in her opening set, Khirin won four of the next five games to close out her 6-3 first-set win. Trailing 3-1 in her second set, Khirin claimed five of the next six games to finish out her victory and improve to 6-2 in dual-match singles action this season.
Pachkaleva clinched the overall dual-match win for the Longhorns with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory on court 4 over Van Vuuren. Tied at 2-2 in the deciding third set, Pachkaleva won four of the next five games to close out her win and move to 9-2 this spring in dual-match singles play.
Playing out the remaining pair of singles matches, No. 101 Zeynalova posted a 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 1-0 (10-5) victory on court 3 over Manu. In her first-set tiebreaker, Zeynalova jumped out to a 5-1 cushion and cruised to the 7-4 win in the breaker. During the third-set super tiebreaker, Zeynalova rallied from a 2-1 hole to win five-straight points and build a 6-2 advantage. Manu answered by winning the next three points to trim the margin to 6-5, before Zeynalova won four-straight points to close out her victory and improve to 9-2 in dual-match singles action this season.
No. 58 Chavatipon closed out the action on Sunday with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3) win on court 2 over Titova. The third-set tiebreaker was even at 3-3, before Chavatipon won four-straight points to finish out her victory and move to 10-3 this spring in dual-match singles play.
Texas returns to the court when it hosts No. 4 Iowa State on Friday, March 24. First serve is set for 2 p.m. Central at the Texas Tennis Center.
#14 Texas 6, # 19 Kansas 1
Singles – Order of finish (5, 6, 1, 4, 3, 2)
- Nicole Khirin (UT) def. #45 Malkia Ngounoue (KU), 6-3, 6-4
- #58 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Maria Titova (KU), 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3)
- #101 Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Roxana Manu (KU), 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 1-0 (10-5)
- Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Heike Janse Van Vuuren (KU), 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
- Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Tamari Gagoshidze (KU), 6-0, 6-4
- Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Jocelyn Massey (KU), 6-2, 6-3
Doubles – Order of finish (2, 1, 3)
- Malkia Ngounoue/Heike Janse Van Vuuren (KU) def. Nicole Khirin/Marlee Zein (UT), 6-2
- #27 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Maria Titova/Tamari Gagoshidze (KU), 6-1
- Roxana Manu/Jocelyn Massey (KU) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva/Nicole Rivkin (UT), 6-4
Players Mentioned
