Three Wildcats Advance to Round of 16 in Singles Play Saturday at ITA Central Regional Championship
Oct 19, 2019 | Tennis
NORMAN, Okla. – Kansas State juniors Maria Linares and Margot Decker and sophomore Rosanna Maffei all grabbed victories in singles play during the Round of 32 at the ITA Central Regional Championship on Saturday (October 19) at the Headington Family Tennis Center.
After posting seven victories on day two of the tournament and advancing six players in the main draw event for singles competition, K-State tacked on three more wins in the Round of 32 thanks in part to dominating performances from Linares and Maffei and a come-from behind victory by Decker in the latter part of the day.
Beginning with the morning session, Maffei showed grit and determination during her bout with Tiffany Huber of Minnesota and pulled away with a two-set victory, 6-2, 7-5.
Linares would then join Maffei in the Round of 16 after handling Iowa State's Chie Kezuka with a two-set win of her own, 6-3, 6-2.
Moving to the latter part of the day, Decker would drop her first set against Maty Cancini of Iowa State before bouncing back and pulling off the upset victory with a three-set performance, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7). Cancini currently sits at No. 99 in the ITA Top-125 rankings.
Decker has now advanced to the Round of 16 in three consecutive years at the ITA Central Regional Tournament.
Junior Anna Turco fell in her Round of 32 matchup against Kansas' Vasiliki Karvouni, dropping both sets, 1-6, 2-6.
Sophomore Ioana Gheorghita would take her match to three sets before falling to Arkansas' Tatum Rice, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 3-6. Rice is the No. 55 ranked player in the country for the ITA Top-125 poll.
Going head-to-head with Wichita State's Sarvinoz Saidjujaeva, sophomore Karine-Marion Job could not extend the match a third and final set and fell in straight sets, 3-6, 3-6.
Decker and Turco looked to extend their tournament run with a matchup in the Round of 32 against the pairing of Hart and Zhang from Minnesota. In a back and forth match, the K-State duo dropped their lone set, 6-8.
Overall, the Wildcats have accumulated 10 victories in singles play during their run at the 2019 ITA Central Regional Championship.
"The team had to play in some tough conditions today", stated Head Coach Jordan Smith. "Pretty hard for them to find a rhythm with the strong winds out there. I was happy to see all of them not be frustrated with conditions that they couldn't control. Had another good day of battling hard in singles and our one doubles match. Ioana (Gheorghita) is putting together a great fall and came up a little short from upsetting a ranked player from Arkansas. Happy to see Maria (Linares), Margot (Decker) and Rosy (Rosanna Maffei) advance to the next round. Rosy and Maria did a good job closing their matches in straight sets. Margot came back from a set down to win a thriller in a third-set tiebreaker. Got a ranked win on top of it. This is the first time for Rosy and the second time for Maria to make it this far. Margot isn't a stranger to this stage either, making it to this round for the third straight year. Definitely her most consistent event. Like to see all three of them extend their runs tomorrow."
K-State will continue action at the ITA Central Regional on Sunday with the start of the Round of 16 in singles and doubles play.
For the latest on K-State tennis follow @kstatesports and @KStateTEN on Twitter or Kansas State Tennis on Facebook.
After posting seven victories on day two of the tournament and advancing six players in the main draw event for singles competition, K-State tacked on three more wins in the Round of 32 thanks in part to dominating performances from Linares and Maffei and a come-from behind victory by Decker in the latter part of the day.
Beginning with the morning session, Maffei showed grit and determination during her bout with Tiffany Huber of Minnesota and pulled away with a two-set victory, 6-2, 7-5.
Linares would then join Maffei in the Round of 16 after handling Iowa State's Chie Kezuka with a two-set win of her own, 6-3, 6-2.
Moving to the latter part of the day, Decker would drop her first set against Maty Cancini of Iowa State before bouncing back and pulling off the upset victory with a three-set performance, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7). Cancini currently sits at No. 99 in the ITA Top-125 rankings.
Decker has now advanced to the Round of 16 in three consecutive years at the ITA Central Regional Tournament.
Junior Anna Turco fell in her Round of 32 matchup against Kansas' Vasiliki Karvouni, dropping both sets, 1-6, 2-6.
Sophomore Ioana Gheorghita would take her match to three sets before falling to Arkansas' Tatum Rice, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 3-6. Rice is the No. 55 ranked player in the country for the ITA Top-125 poll.
Going head-to-head with Wichita State's Sarvinoz Saidjujaeva, sophomore Karine-Marion Job could not extend the match a third and final set and fell in straight sets, 3-6, 3-6.
Decker and Turco looked to extend their tournament run with a matchup in the Round of 32 against the pairing of Hart and Zhang from Minnesota. In a back and forth match, the K-State duo dropped their lone set, 6-8.
Overall, the Wildcats have accumulated 10 victories in singles play during their run at the 2019 ITA Central Regional Championship.
"The team had to play in some tough conditions today", stated Head Coach Jordan Smith. "Pretty hard for them to find a rhythm with the strong winds out there. I was happy to see all of them not be frustrated with conditions that they couldn't control. Had another good day of battling hard in singles and our one doubles match. Ioana (Gheorghita) is putting together a great fall and came up a little short from upsetting a ranked player from Arkansas. Happy to see Maria (Linares), Margot (Decker) and Rosy (Rosanna Maffei) advance to the next round. Rosy and Maria did a good job closing their matches in straight sets. Margot came back from a set down to win a thriller in a third-set tiebreaker. Got a ranked win on top of it. This is the first time for Rosy and the second time for Maria to make it this far. Margot isn't a stranger to this stage either, making it to this round for the third straight year. Definitely her most consistent event. Like to see all three of them extend their runs tomorrow."
K-State will continue action at the ITA Central Regional on Sunday with the start of the Round of 16 in singles and doubles play.
For the latest on K-State tennis follow @kstatesports and @KStateTEN on Twitter or Kansas State Tennis on Facebook.
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