Kansas State University Athletics
Kansas State University
Georgia
K-State Falls to No. 5 Georgia in Championship Round at ITA Kickoff Weekend
Jan 26, 2019 | Tennis
ATHENS, Ga.?– After advancing to the championship round on Friday, K-State suffered its first loss of the season to fifth-ranked Georgia 7-0 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday afternoon at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts.
"We played a great doubles point today," said head coach Jordan Smith. "It came down to the last match. The team did a great job of adjusting and playing more to their style in doubles today. Took us a while to find our rhythm in singles. We fought hard but weren't able to gain control on some of the courts. A lot of credit goes to UGA for not giving us many opportunities. It's early in the season but we got a good idea on what we need to build on moving forward."
K-State (2-1) took on Georgia's rich roster, which contains six nationally ranked singles players – five of which are inside in the nation's top 80 – and all went up against the Wildcats on Saturday during the championship round. The Bulldogs (2-0) advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in February.
The Wildcats' No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Margot Decker and Anna Turco upended UGA's duo of Vivan Wolff and Lourdes Carle, 6-2. Georgia responded with wins on Courts 2 and 3 to secure the doubles point.
Maria Linares and Ines Mesquita teamed up to take on Elena Christofi and Morgan Coppoc, but lost, 6-2. The Wildcat freshman team of Karine-Marion Job and Ioana Gheorghita fell to Katarina Jokic and Meg Kowalski, 6-4.
In singles action, Linares took the country's 14th-ranked player in Marta Gonzalez to a third set before ultimately falling 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).
Decker battled the nation's top-ranked player Jokic, dropping a 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 2 singles matchup while junior Ines Mesquita fell to No. 54 Vivan Wolff 6-2, 6-1 at the fourth spot.
At the No. 3 position, Turco lost to No. 78 Lourdes Carle, 6-0, 6-2 while Gheorghita was defeated by No. 79 Kowalski, 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 singles. Job lost to No. 107 Elena Christofi, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 playing at the fifth spot in the lineup.
The Cats will now prepare to head out to Lincoln, Nebraska, to go head-to-head against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-2) on Friday, February 1.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,4,1,2,6,5
Players Mentioned
