April 24, 2008
The 2008 Big 12 Conference Men's and Women's Tennis Championships started off with morning session victories by the fifth-seeded Kansas women, 4-0, over 12th-seeded Iowa State and ninth-seeded Texas Tech, 4-1, over eighth-seeded Oklahoma Thursday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The sixth-seeded Oklahoma State women later topped 11th-seeded Missouri, 4-1, while 10th-seeded Kansas State upset seventh-seeded Nebraska, 4-3.
Tournament play continues in both the men's and women's brackets beginning tomorrow at 9 a.m.
(5) KANSAS 4, (12) IOWA STATE 0
Thursday, April 24, 2008
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
2008 Big 12 Women?â„¢s Tennis Championship
First Round
RECORDS: Kansas 10-12; Iowa State 4-15
ATTENDANCE:239
SINGLES
1. Magdalena Tokarczyk, KU vs. Erin Karonis, ISU, DNF
2. Elizaveta Avdeeva, KU vs. Kara Hickey, ISU, DNF
3. Edina Horvath, KU def. Caitlin Loprinzi, ISU, 6-1, 6-2
4. Kunigunda Dorn, KU def. Alyssa Palen, ISU, 6-0, 6-0
5. Yuliana Svistun, KU def. Liza Wischer, ISU, 6-0, 6-1
6. Lauren Hommell, KU vs. Reka Kelemen, ISU, DNF
DOUBLES (Kansas wins the point)
1. Avdeeva/Horvath, KU vs. Derouin/Karonis, ISU, DNF
2. Dorn/Hommell, KU def. Hickey/Loprinzi, ISU, 8-4
3. Svistun/Tokarczyk, KU def. Palen/Wischer, ISU, 8-3
FINISH ORDER:
Singles: 4, 5, 3*
Doubles: 3, 2
KANSAS HEAD COACH AMY HALL-HOLT
?You can?â„¢t take any team for granted in the first round. Iowa State came out strong but we wound up pulling through. Our girls played tough and played hard at the very end. That?â„¢s what we?â„¢ve been working for all year. You want to build confidence in your first match and that?â„¢s one thing that I told the girls to come out and here and play confident but don?â„¢t be overly confident. The girls came out and put their games on the line and we came out successful 4-0. I?â„¢m very proud of the girls and their performance today.?
?Colorado is a very tough, aggressive team. We?â„¢ve got to come out with a lot of confidence and a lot of energy. That?â„¢s one thing we?â„¢re going to strive for. We?â„¢re going to get the girls ready and prepared and having the confidence that they need. This is where we wanted to be. This is what we?â„¢ve been working for all year. I think the level of confidence for our girls is real high right now. I think we?â„¢re ready for them.?
IOWA STATE HEAD COACH ARMANDO ESPINOS
?It (being down in the match) has been just a very repetitive thing. We?â„¢ve been in situations like this before and we have not been able to learn how to capitalize. We are trying to get better at that. We were up in three of the singles matches. Unfortunately, it was down to four and we lost the four before we could get some momentum back. If we would have won some matches faster, it could have changed the outcome of the match. Looking ahead to next year, we will go back and work on playing better fundamentals and having better starts from the get-go instead of trying to always play catch up. That?â„¢s the biggest thing. We need to put the players in the driver?â„¢s seat and take off.?
***
(9) TEXAS TECH 4, (8) OKLAHOMA 1
Thursday, April 24, 2008
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center'
College Station, Texas
2008 Big 12 Women?â„¢s Tennis Championship
First Round
RECORDS: Texas Tech 12-11; Oklahoma 11-12
ATTENDANCE: 239
SINGLES
1. (#111) Ana-Maria Constantinescu, OU def. Samantha van der Drift, TTU, 6-0, 6-3.
2. Janet Durham, TTU def. Chelsea Orr, OU, 6-1, 6-1.
3. Maria Kalashnikova, OU vs. Kelsey Garland, TTU, DNF
4. Elena Antakova, OU vs. Simone Templeton, TTU, DNF
5. Kerryn Potgieter, TTU def. Christi Baxley, OU, 6-4, 6-4.
6. Brenna Jackson, TTU def. Tara Eckel, OU, 7-5, 7-5.
DOUBLES (Texas Tech wins the point)
1. (#41) Durham/van der Drift, TTU def. Constantinescu/Orr, OU, 8-6.
2. Baxley/Kalashnikova, OU vs. Brenna Jackson/Potgieter, TTU, 8-3.
3. Garland/Templeton, TTU def. Antakova/Cox, OU, 8-2.
FINISH ORDER:
Singles: 2, 1, 5, 6*
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH MARK JOHNSON
?They just out-played us. We had some chances to get some early first sets that we didn?â„¢t get in the singles. In the doubles point, I thought we had a great chance there. We were up 5-3 at No. 1 to try to get that and that?â„¢s all you could ask for, but Tech fought hard. They just out-played us there so give them credit.?
TEXAS TECH HEAD COACH CARI GROCE
?The difference in our last match versus OU (a 5-2 loss in Lubbock) was a disappointed coach and a long talk with the team the following day. We have a team that is very motivated, works very hard and wants to please their coach and please Texas Tech. Our players wear the uniform with pride. We talked to them to play like gladiators. You can?â„¢t just go out there and hit the ball. You have to fight like they did in the earlier days when two went in and one came out. They took on that mentality and they?â„¢ve had that kind of momentum and spirit the last couple of weeks coming into the tournament. We have some great leadership on our team and we have great family supporters that come out and fill the stands for us which really helps us out. That was probably the biggest difference in the match today. We were all very disappointed and we knew we needed to make adjustments before we faced any team again.?
***
(6) OKLAHOMA STATE 4, (11) MISSOURI 1
Thursday, April 24, 2008
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
2008 Big 12 Women?â„¢s Tennis Championship
First Round
RECORDS: Oklahoma State 12-9; Missouri 10-13
ATTENDANCE: 239
SINGLES
1. Iryna Tkachenko, OSU def. Mallory Weber, MU, 6-2, 6-0.
2. Yawna Allen, OSU vs. Jessica Giuggioli, MU, 6-1, 7-6 (3).
3. Jo-Anne Karaitiana, OSU vs. Chrissy Svetlic, MU, 6-2, 6-1.
4. Sasha Belova, OSU vs. Katelyn Ritchie, MU, 6-3, 6-2.
5. Maryna Tkachenko, OSU vs. Maureen Modesto, MU, DNF
6. Jessica Collins, OSU vs. Sofia Ayala, MU, DNF
DOUBLES (Missouri wins the point)
1. Svetlic/Weber, MU def. Belova/Karaitiana, OSU, 8-5.
2. Allen/I. Tkachenko, OSU def. Ayala/Dunham, MU, 8-3.
3. Giuggioli/Ritchie, MU def. Collins/M. Tkachenko, OSU, 8-4.
FINISH ORDER:
Singles: 1, 3, 4, 2*
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
OKLAHOMA STATE HEAD COACH JULIUS LUBICZ-MAJEWSKI
?They (Missouri) were pretty good. I think they were excited and wanted some revenge after our match in Stillwater when we won 5-2. It was closer than it looked. Our players fought and Yawna (Allen), our No. 2 player, really came back beautifully and won her first set and pulled off the tiebreaker. We are very happy with the win. It?â„¢s very tough to come to the tournament and play, because everyone is relaxed and having beaten the team before. We tried to stress that Missouri would definitely be after us. The best example was they really played well and they won the doubles. It was a little bit tight. I have some talent on my team and our players who were supposed to win won.?
?Everybody knows that our team is hurting because we have injuries with three players out of the lineup. We will definitely fight hard (against Texas A&M tomorrow). I know it will be very hard to play Texas A&M here with their home crowd and it being a night game. It?â„¢s going to be tough. We will prepare our players for it and I hope we play well.?
MISSOURI HEAD COACH BLAKE STARKEY
?That one hurts. I feel for my team. We?â„¢ve done this quite a bit. There are a lot of things to be proud of. You?â„¢ve got to give Oklahoma State credit. They got the top four spots (in singles). We had five and six. Anyone could look at that and see we had those. We had match points on both and were firmly in control of both. I think if we get that breaker (on No. 2) and we put ourselves in position for the third we get the match 4-3. Right now it kind of hurts a little. We?â„¢ve certainly had an interesting year. I?â„¢m really proud of our girls. We only had one senior on the team so I think we?â„¢ve got a lot of really good things to look forward to. We?â„¢ve added a couple of good pieces going into next year. But for today, credit Oklahoma State. We wish them the best of luck against A&M tomorrow.?
***
(10) KANSAS STATE 4, (7) NEBRASKA 3
Thursday, April 24, 2008
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
2008 Big 12 Women?â„¢s Tennis Championship
First Round
RECORDS: Kansas State 8-13; Nebraska 16-7
ATTENDANCE: 239
SINGLES
1. Viviana Yrureta, KSU def. Imke Reimers, NU, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (10).
2. Antea Huljev, KSU def. Wiveca Swarting, NU, 6-4, 6-1.
3. Jana Albers, NU def. Katerina Kudlackova, KSU, 6-1, 6-1.
4. Vanessa Cottin, KSU def. Stephanie Evans, NU, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
5. Amber Chandronnait, NU def. Natasha Vieira, KSU, 7-6 (4), 6-0.
6. Ashley Finnegan, NU def. Pauline Guemas, KSU, 6-4, 6-3.
DOUBLES
1. Klimova/Kudlackova, KSU def. (#52) Albers/Reimers, NU, 8-5.
2. Ring/Swarting, NU vs. Cottin/Huljev, KSU, DNF
3. Vieira/Yrureta, KSU def. Chandronnait/Evans, NU, 8-2.
FINISH ORDER:
Singles: 3, 6, 2, 5, 4, 1*
Doubles: 3, 1
KANSAS STATE HEAD COACH STEVE BIETAU
?It was an exciting match, a great college tennis match. I was really happy with our team. We had better performances on every court in the doubles. We just played them last Sunday and won the doubles point and lost all the singles matches. To come back and win this - I thought playing them outside would help us a little bit and I think it did. We had three outstanding performances in the singles, at No. 2, Vanessa (Cottin) at No. 4 who has been a little shaky and was in some real trouble in the second set of that match and came back and won, and then of course Viviana (Yrureta) playing somebody like (Imke) Reiners who?â„¢s a pretty darn good player. That?â„¢s somebody who beat her on Sunday. All three of those were matches we lost on Sunday. We?â„¢ve been playing good doubles so I felt good going into the doubles and it didn?â„¢t shock me that we got the doubles point. But this was really a great effort on their part in the singles.?
NEBRASKA HEAD COACH SCOTT JACOBSON
?It was actually an exceptional dual. We knew that this was going to be a real close dual. We played Kansas State just last week (a 6-1 Nebraska victory) on our home court, and it is a little bit different when you are playing at home versus a neutral site. We knew from the results that they are a very gifted and talented team. We tried our hearts out but came up just a little bit short today.?
?She (senior Imke Reimers) is a great competitor and a tremendous senior and has offered us amazing leadership throughout the course of her four years here. We are really proud of her. She can hold her head high. She has accomplished so much at the University of the Nebraska and has just led in all different aspects of her life.?