LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 49 Wichita State defeated No. 45 Kansas 4-3 at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence on Friday. The Shockers improved to 9-3 while winning nine of their last ten contests as the Jayhawks fell to 8-2.
Doubles play began with a Julia Schiller/Abby Stevens (No. 7 in the ITA's Central Doubles Rankings) 8-1 victory over Claire Dreyer/Morgan Barnhill of No. 45 Kansas. The Jayhawks fought back to tie the doubles portion with a Maria Jose Cardona/Maria Belen Luduena 8-4 win against Rebecca Pedrazzi/Montse Blasco Fernandez (No. 9 in the ITA's Central Doubles Rankings).
Veronika Blaskova/Lucia Kovalova secured the doubles point and the 1-0 Shocker lead heading into singles play by capturing an 8-6 win over No. 45 KU's Dylan Windom/Paulina Los.
Singles play also began with a Shocker victory. Schiller gave No. 49 Wichita State a 2-0 dual-match advantage when she won 6-2, 6-1 against Cardona (No. 16 in the ITA's Central Singles Rankings). Pedrazzi pushed the Shocker lead to 3-0 when she earned a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Windom.
The Jayhawks didn't go down without a fight. Dreyer beat Blaskova 6-3, 6-2 to cut the Shocker lead to 3-1. Los took down Stevens 6-2, 6-4 to trim No. 49 Wichita State's lead to 3-2.
No. 45 KU came all the way back to tie the dual-match at three apiece after Luduena defeated Kovalova 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. The Blasco Fernandez/Anastasija Trubica singles matchup would determine the winner of Friday's dual-match.
Blasco Fernandez closed the dual-match and sealed the Shocker win by earning a 6-3, 6-1 straight sets victory over Trubica. No. 49 Wichita State head coach Colin Foster was proud of his team's performance.
“Every court, doubles and singles, was doing well in the things they could control,” Foster said. “In the courts we lost, we were outplayed, and in the courts we won, we trusted our games during the toughest moments and executed beautifully.”
No. 49 Wichita State is back on the road when they battle No. 50 Oklahoma State Sunday at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla. at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available under the 'schedule box' on the home page and on the women's tennis schedule page.
The results of Sunday's matchup will be posted on GoShockers.com following the completion of play.
-WICHITA STATE-
No. 49 Wichita State 4, No. 45 Kansas 3
Singles competition
1. Julia Schiller (WSU) def. Maria Jose Cardona (KU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Rebecca Pedrazzi (WSU) def. Dylan Windom (KU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Maria Belen Luduena (KU) def. Lucia Kovalova (WSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
4. Paulina Los (KU) def. Abby Stevens (WSU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Claire Dreyer (KU) def. Veronica Blaskova (WSU) 6-3, 6-2
6. Montse Blasco Fernandez (WSU) def. Anastasija Trubica (KU) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Blaskova/Kovalova (WSU) def. Windom/Los (KU) 8-6
2. Cardona/Luduena (KU) def. Pedrazzi/Fernandez (WSU) 8-4
3. Stevens/Schiller (WSU) def. Barnhill/Dreyer (KU) 8-1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1 ); Singles (1,2, 5, 4, 3, 6)
