MANHATTAN, Kan. – No. 32 Wichita State suffered a 4-3 defeat to No. 58 Kansas State on Saturday at the Body First Tennis and Fitness Center in Manhattan. With the loss, the Shockers drop to 9-5 while the Wildcats improve to 6-5.
Julia Schiller/Abby Stevens (No. 7 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Central Doubles Rankings) of No. 32 WSU began the doubles portion by winning 8-4 against No. 58 K-State's Livia Cirnu/Riley Nizzi. Petra Niedermayerova/Amina St. Hill tied the doubles portion at one apiece by defeating Lucia Kovalova/Veronika Blaskova 8-4.
The Wildcats clinched the doubles point and took the 1-0 dual-match lead when Palma Juhasez/Iva Bago took down Rebecca Pedrazzi/Montse Blasco Fernandez (No. 9 in the ITA's Central Doubles Rankings) 8-7(5).
Niedermayerova (No. 82 in the ITA's National Singles Rankings) began singles play by earning a 6-3, 6-0 win against Schiller to give the Wildcats a 2-0 dual-match lead. Pedrazzi cut the Shocker deficit in half when she won 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 over Juhasez.
Cirnu gave No. 58 K-State a 3-1 dual-match lead when she was victorious in a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) battle against Kovalova. The Wildcats then clinched the dual-match when St. Hill beat Stevens 6-1, 6-1.
While No. 58 K-State had clinched the match at this point, Satjaporn Mahajaroenkul won her match 3-0, retired (inj.) against Nizzi to close the gap to 4-2. Blasco Fernandez finished the dual-match with an 8-6 win of her own against Bago to trim the Wildcat lead to the 4-3 final score.
No. 32 Wichita State head women's tennis coach Colin Foster saw positives although the Shocks were defeated.
“The match basically hung on those tiebreakers at No. 2 doubles and No. 3 singles,” Foster said. “Unfortunately, we came up just short on both courts. We talk a lot about pushing ourselves when we're even and ahead.
“We are doing such a great job to fight back when we're down but at a few moments, we're letting our foot off the gas mentally or physically when we claw back to even or get ahead in the game. To win a match like today, we needed to be a touch better in those areas.”
The next time No. 32 Wichita State will be in action is on Saturday, March 15 when they take on Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. at 2 p.m.
-WICHITA STATE-
Tennis Match Results
Wichita State vs Kansas State
Mar 08, 2014 at Manhattan, Kan.
(Body First Tennis and Fitness Center)
#58 Kansas State 4, #32 Wichita State 3
Singles Competition
1. #82 Petra Niedermayerova (KSU) def. Julia Schiller (WSUW) 6-3, 6-0
2. Rebecca Pedrazzi (WSUW) def. Palma Juhasz (KSU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
3. Livia Cirnu (KSU) def. Lucia Kovalova (WSUW) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6)
4. Amina St. Hill (KSU) def. Abby Stevens (WSUW) 6-1, 6-1
5. Montse B. Fernandez (WSUW) def. Iva Bago (KSU) 8-6
6. S. Mahajaroenkul (WSUW) def. Riley Nizzi (KSU) 3-0, retired (inj.)
Doubles Competition
1. Petra Niedermayerova/Amina St. Hill (KSU) def. Veronika Blaskova/Lucia Kovalova (WSUW) 8-4
2. Palma Juhasz/Iva Bago (KSU) def. Montse B. Fernandez/Rebecca Pedrazzi (WSUW) 8-7(5)
3. Abby Stevens/Julia Schiller (WSUW) def. Riley Nizzi/Livia Cirnu (KSU) 8-4
Match Notes:
Wichita State 9-5; National ranking #32
Kansas State 6-5; National ranking #58
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,2,3,4,6,5)
