Kansas tennis played in the 2020 Fall Series Championships this past weekend, with sophomore Vasiliki Karvouni leading the way with a second place finish in the Flight 3 bracket.
“This event was a great event and a great way to end our fall season,” Kansas coach Todd Chapman said in a Kansas Athletics news release.
The Jayhawks opened the tournament with six wins in singles play on Friday.
A trio of Kansas juniors built some early momentum for the Jayhawks. Malkia Ngounoue defeated TCU’s Kaitlin Staines (4-6, 6-1, 10-3), Tiffany Lagarde beat Baylor’s Mel Krywoj (7-5, 0-6, 11-9), and Julia Deming beat Iowa State’s Ting-Pei Chang 6-1, 6-2.
Deming, Lagarde, and Karvouni also picked up wins in the quarterfinals. Junior Sonia Smagina and sophomore Carmen Roxana Manu dropped both of their respective singles matches on Friday.
The Jayhawks went 0-4 in doubles play on Friday, but Kansas rebounded with three doubles wins on Saturday.
In the consolation bracket, Smagina and Manu defeated TCU’s Marie Norris and Addy Guevara (6-2), Ngounoue and Deming beat Olivia Mikkelson and Camryn Stepp (6-2), and Lagarde and Karvouni beat Oklahoma State duo Mary Streller and Lora Boggs (6-0).
While Lagarde and Deming both dropped their quarterfinals matches in singles play, Karvouni salvaged things in the Flight 3 semifinals with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Iowa State’s Christin Hsieh. Ngounoue also picked up a win in the Flight 1 singles consolation bracket.
On the final day, both Lagarde and Deming picked up third place finishes in the Flight 1 and Flight 2 brackets, respectively. Lagarde defeated Iowa State’s Maty Cancini (7-6 (5), 6-2), and Deming beat Oklahoma’s Ivana Corley (6-4, 2-6, 10-8).
Karvouni grabbed a second place finish after falling to Baylor’s Kristina Sorokolet (6-4, 6-0) in the Flight 3 championship match.
“We definitely have positives to take away from our play, and also go into our short offseason with a clear idea of what we need to work on," Chapman said. "We will take a couple of days off and get back to work in preparation for our spring season.”
