Kansas tennis shuts out UMKC, sets eyes on Kentucky
Confidence high for first meeting against Kentucky since 1989
The team travels east, seeking Wildcat and Colonel dominance.
By Alex Dufek (Contact)
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
The Kansas tennis team recorded their second straight sweep of the season on Saturday, defeating UMKC 7-0.
The Jayhawks won every match in straight sets and only lost nine games on the day. The victory improves the team’s dual play record to 2-3 on the year.
“I think the girls played well with a lot of confidence and that’s what we needed going into this weekend playing Kentucky,” coach Amy Hall-Holt said.
By winning in both singles and double play, junior Edina Horvath, improved her win streak to 10 matches. Horvath has not lost since Jan.19, during the Hawaii Spring Invitational, and remains undefeated in dual play.
Horvath and partner senior Elizaveta Avdeeva defeated the Kangaroos’ Chelsea Horner and Emily Lindsay to stay undefeated in dual play and lift their overall record this spring to 7-1.
In other doubles play, the Jayhawk pair of sophomore Kunigunda Dorn and junior Yuliana Svistun blanked Caitlin Burke and Akshara Reddy on their way to an 8-0 victory. Senior Lauren Hommell and freshman Maria Martinez defeated Holly Davis and Nicole Kofron of UMKC, 8-1.
In singles play, the Hawks won three of their six matches without dropping a game. Freshman Magdalena Tokarczyk along with Martinez and Svistun notched shutout victories.
After an impressive home-stand, Kansas will take their two-match win streak on the road. The Jayhawks will head east in an attempt to claim tennis dominance over the state of Kentucky.
Tokarczyk, who began the year at the No. 2 singles position, played her last three matches at the No. 1 spot. Her shutout victory over Chelsea Horner improves her overall singles record to 6-1, and her record at the No. 1 position to 2-1.
Hall-Holt said it’s not important to the girls what position they play, as long as they are able to contribute to the end result.
“Magdalena just wants to play,” Hall-Holt said. “I don’t think she cares which spot she plays in. She just wants to contribute to the team and it’s the same with all of our girls.”
The Hawks also received singles victories from Avdeeva, Horvath and senior Stephanie Smith.
After an impressive home-stand, Kansas will take their two-match win streak on the road. The Jayhawks will head east in an attempt to claim tennis dominance over the state of Kentucky.
Coach Hall-Holt said she believes playing schools like the 29th ranked Kentucky Wildcats will help get the Jayhawks where they need to be for Big 12 play.
“By playing some of these higher ranked teams it’s definitely going to help us prepare for when we get into conference and we face Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M,” Hall-Holt said.
Kansas heads to Lexington on Saturday to face the Wildcats for the first time since 1989. Sunday, the Hawks head to Richmond to take on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, for the first time in school history.
— Edited by Daniel Reyes
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