Friday, April 27, 2007
KANSAS CITY, MO. — For the second time in three hours at the Big 12 Championship, Elizaveta Avdeeva found herself locked in a tiebreaker with Oklahoma’s Gabby Baker.
Avdeeva and sophomore Edina Horvath got the better of Baker and Irina Lykina in the No. 1 doubles match, winning 9-8 (5). But with the team score knotted up at 3-3, Avdeeva and Baker again hooked up in another epic tiebreaker to decide the team outcome. This time Kansas’ No. 1 singles player was all out of magic. Avdeeva fell 7-3 in a second set tiebreaker giving Baker a 7-5, 7-6 (3) victory and Oklahoma a 4-3 win in the opening round of the Big 12 Championship.
After her team’s season ended with a 4-17 record, Coach Amy Hall-Holt tried to put a positive spin on the close loss.
“The girls put it out there in both singles and doubles,” Hall-Holt said. “This,” she said while looking around the Plaza Tennis Center, “Is what competition is all about.”
The match had an eerie similarity to the last match Kansas played against Oklahoma — Kansas fell 4-3 at Oklahoma on March 14. In both matches, Kansas won the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches to take the doubles point, but lost four out of six singles matches to lose 4-3.
This time, Kansas got an 8-6 win from junior Lauren Hommell and freshman Kunigunda Dorn at No. 2 doubles to compliment Avdeeva and Horvath’s victory at the No. 1 spot.
As the match moved to singles, Kansas saw Hommell quickly go down, losing 6-2, 6-0. Then Horvath and Dorn were the next to fall. They lost 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 singles and 6-1, 7-5 at No. 3 singles respectively.
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We got everybody back next year and were adding a few to the lineup. I told the girls that we have to start tomorrow getting ready for next year.
-Coach Amy Hall-Holt
Kansas once again received a lift from Yuliana Svistun at No. 5 singles. Svistun won 6-1, 6-0 in dominating fashion, giving Kansas their second point of the day.
Stephanie Smith also pulled out a win in singles for Kansas in a tight three-set match. After she won the first set, Smith struggled in the second, but rallied in the third to take the match, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Smith’s victory gave Kansas their third and final point of the day.
The loss ends a disappointing season for the Jayhawks, but afterward, Coach Hall-Holt was anxious to talk about the future.
“We got everybody back next year and were adding a few to the lineup,” Hall-Holt said. “I told the girls that we have to start tomorrow getting ready for next year.”
In a season that will be remembered for its close losses and the team’s myriad of injuries, Hall-Holt said there is one thing she will remember about this team. “They never let up,” she said, “They had a lot of heart.”
Kansan sportswriter Rustin Dodd can be contacted at rdodd@kansan.com.
— Edited by Trevan McGee
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