KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They make fans’ hearts beat a little bit faster. They make a few more drops of sweat trickle down an athlete’s face. We’ve all seen them or played in them.

They’re the moments of the game, meet or match where everything matters.

Thursday at the Big 12 Championships, two of Kansas’ matches came down to one of these moments: the tie-break.

A good tie-break to decide the outcome of a match is as exciting as any other pressure moment in sports. It’s in basketball when Sherron Collins goes shoeless and still drives for the game-winner against Missouri. It’s in football when Todd Reesing burns his redshirt and scurries across the field to evade Colorado’s upset bid.

The tie-break has the same bite-your-nails tense feel. The concept for one is simple: score seven points and win by two before your opponent does.

It didn’t take long for one of these moments to take place. Elizaveta Avdeeva and Edina Horvath played back and forth their entire doubles match against Oklahoma’s Gabby Baker and Irina Lykina. They went up 6-4 before Baker and Lykina tied it back up. Then they went up 8-7 and had a chance to serve for the match. Baker and Lykina wouldn’t let them win.

Let the tie-breaker begin.

Well, sort of. Avdeeva and Horvath’s rackets didn’t start moving for a while. Horvath drilled a shot right in to the net. Lykina nearly ripped Avdeeva’s head off with a forehand. All of a sudden, Lykina and Baker had a 4-0 lead.

Anyone who follows Kansas tennis knows this isn’t a good sign. Avdeeva and Horvath have to win. Not should. Not ought. They have to win. The Jayhawks haven’t won a match as a team this season when they didn’t win the doubles point.

Avdeeva must have known this, because the momentum immediately changed. She started executing and Baker did the exact opposite: she made an error. After a seemingly endless rally, Baker hit the ball into the net. She hit it long. She hit it long again. It was 4-4.

Baker and Lykina won the next point. Avdeeva and Horvath then tied it up 5-5. Now this was really one of those pressure-packed moments. The rush-hour traffic on Cleaver Boulevard was stopped so passengers could watch. People stopped walking on the sidewalks to peer inside the chainlink fence.

Athletes can either melt under the pressure or live up to it. Avdeeva lived. Baker melted. Avdeeva ripped a serve in the middle of the box and Baker tapped it back into the net. On the next point, Horvath and Baker battled against each other on the baselines. Finally, Baker pushed a forehand long. Kansas won the doubles point. The Jayhawks’ chances for advancing looked good.

But college tennis matches are really long. Sometimes they last five hours. There’s always plenty of time for redemption. Players who mess up in doubles can think about it for a while and make up for it later on in their singles match.

Kansas and Oklahoma had played even in the rest of the singles matches. The team score was 3-3. Avdeeva and Baker battled on center court to determine which team would win the match and advance to the second round.

Like their earlier doubles match, it was back and forth. Baker jumped out to an early lead in the first set. Avdeeva broke her and led 5-4, but Baker came back to win the first set 7-5.

The second set was almost opposite. Avdeeva led early but had to comeback to tie the second set at 6-6.

Let the second tie-break begin.

Baker won the first couple points but Avdeeva answered back. The score was 3-3. It was one of those moments again. With all the other matches finished, both teams swarmed around center court. Fans whispered to each other, realizing the importance of each point.

Avdeeva hit a serve long. Fault one. She hit her next one into the net. Double fault. On the next point, Baker rifled a forehand winner. Avdeeva made another error. She was down 6-3. One more mishap and the match was Baker’s.

Avdeeva and Baker each hit the ball a couple times to each other before Avdeeva finally missed. Game, set and match Oklahoma.

Avdeeva walked to the bench. Her teammates consoled her. Baker yelped out a cheer — she was soaking in the moment.

Kansan sportswriter Mark Dent can be contacted at mdent@kansan.com.

— Edited by Kelly Lanigan