K-State Hosts 25th-Ranked BYU at Ahearn
Jan 25, 2005 | Tennis
MANHATTAN - This weekend K-State will face its first test of the spring, facing ITA 25th-ranked BYU on Friday, January 28 at 4 p.m., in Ahearn Field House. In the series between the schools, Kansas State is 2-11 with its last win coming in Manhattan on January 25, 2003 by a score of 4-3. The Wildcats currently hold a two-match win streak over the Cougars. This will be the first match for the Wildcats this season in Ahearn and admission is free.
The Wildcats used their successful fall campaign to springboard to a 7-0 season-opening victory over Drake, January 22 at Cottonwood Racquet Club in Manhattan. The win was the largest season-opening victory by the Wildcats since January 25, 1998, when K-State defeated SMS, 9-0.
BYU: At a Glance
Head coach Craig Manning enters his sixth season with a 2-1 mark, with wins over Weber State (7-0, Jan. 15) and Washington State (4-3, Jan. 21) and its only defeat coming at the hands of the Huskies from Washington (6-1, Jan. 22). In his career, Manning has a 75-51 record, including a 24-6 mark in the 2004 season.
The Cougars roster features just one senior, Rebecca Pike, who is 1-1 this spring. Leading BYU in singles wins this spring are junior Olga Boulytcheva and sophomore Lauren Jones, each with 2-1 marks. The top doubles pairing is freshmen Anastasia Sourkova and Dolly Chang and Pike and Boulytcheva with 2-0 records.
This is the first road trip for the Cougars as they make a swing through Kansas, taking on the Wildcats on Friday and the Jayhawks on Saturday in Lawrence.
Welcome to the Show, Rookies
Head coach Steve Bietau opened the season with a lineup that included four freshmen: Tamar Kvaratskhelia, playing in the number two position, Olga Klimova in the number four position, Tereza Prochazkova in the five position and Fernanda Da Valle in the sixth position.
The straight set wins by Kvaratskhelia and Klimova were nothing new as each played significantly during the fall season. Klimova currently has the longest win streak of any Wildcat, winning her last four. The matches by Prochazkova and Da Valle were the first of their collegiate careers, which they won with scores of 6-0, 6-0 and 6-3, 6-3, respectively.
Prochazkova was delayed in her collegiate debut as she was rehabilitating a surgically repaired knee.
Da Valle is the newest member of the Wildcats, joining the team on January 13 and had practiced for just one week before playing and winning her first match.
Wildcats Among Season-Opening Rankings
The ITA released its first national ranking on January 11 and K-State has one representative in the singles and doubles list. Senior Maria Rosenberg made the list at No. 109, four spots below her fall preseason ITA ranking of No. 105. Rosenberg and doubles partner, freshman Tamar Kvaratskhelia tied for No. 60 on the doubles ranking. During the 2004 season, Rosenberg was the only Wildcat to be ranked at any time during the season, reaching No. 83 in the February 24, 2004 ranking.
On December 1, Rosenberg, Kvaratskhelia, junior Jessica Simosa and freshman Olga Klimova were named to the ITA Central Region ranking. Rosenberg was slotted at No. 7, with Kvaratskhelia making her debut in any ranking at No. 9. The Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia native is the only freshman to be ranked among the top-10. The duo was also named as the No. 5 doubles team. Simosa and Klimova reached the ranking as a doubles tandem, reaching the No. 12 spot in the ranking.
Rosenberg Rockets to Second on Career List
Maria Rosenberg took one more step closer to the school’s career singles win record with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Zorana Stefanovic of Drake. The Manhattan, Kan., product is now just eight wins short of the record, currently held by Petra Sedlmajerova from 1999-2003 with 77 career singles wins. If Rosenberg were to reach 21 wins for the season, it would be a career-high. Rosenberg is also just one win shy of tying for fifth on the school’s career doubles win list.
