Cats Pick Up Road Win Against Cornhuskers Friday

LINCOLN, Neb.?– The K-State women's tennis team sealed its first victory over Nebraska since the 2009 season in a 4-1 triumph Friday evening inside the Dillon Tennis Center.

"Really happy with how well the team did today," head coach Jordan Smith said. "We pulled out a close doubles point that came down to the last match. We used the momentum from the 1-0 lead and set the tone in singles. Overall a nice win on the road for us."

The win was just K-State's fifth win in Lincoln (5-17) and first since the Wildcats (3-1) and Huskers (1-4) were Big 12 foes. K-State is now 14-30 all-time against Nebraska.

"We're off to a solid start," added Smith. "Of course, it's still early but I'm proud of how well this team has come together. The support and energy from each player has been incredible. This team knows what it will take to play in May, and it starts with the belief in each other. We're doing a great job of it right now and it's showing in our matches."

K-State picked up the doubles point for the second time this season, as the No. 1 tandem of sophomores Margot Decker and Anna Turco claimed the deciding doubles match with a 6-4 win over the Huskers' top pair of Vasanti Shinde and Marina Cozac. Decker and Turco have a team-best 3-1 doubles record this spring.

Maria Linares and Ines Mesquita began doubles play with a 6-1 win from the second position before Nebraska evened the doubles score with Jessica Aragon's and Claire Reifeis' 6-1 victory over K-State's freshmen duo of Ioana Gheorghita and Karine-Marion Job, 6-1.

Decker, playing at the top singles spot for the second straight match, clinched the Cats' fourth point with a straight-set win over Shinde, 6-2, 6-3.

Mesquita earned K-State's first singles win over Aragon, 6-0, 6-2, and Job followed suit with a win over Jeannie Lozowski, 6-1, 6-4.

At No. 2 singles, Linares lost to Reifeis, 6-1, 6-3, shortly after the match was sealed. Turco and Gheorghita went unfinished from the third and sixth positions, respectively.

Friday's win improves K-State's overall singles record to 13-7 while its doubles mark is now 6-5. Decker and Mesquita boast identical 3-1 singles records to lead the Wildcats.

"It's going to be a battle this season," said Smith. "We have a strong schedule and the Big 12 got better as a whole. So, we're going to be tested in all of our matches and we have to ready, which is why we played such a challenging fall schedule. The more we face adversity early, the better prepared we will be in our league. I'm excited about our progress so far."

The Wildcats next take the court Sunday, February 10 when they travel to Houston, Texas, to take on the Rice Owls at 11 a.m. CT.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Margot Decker

Ioana Gheorghita

Karine-Marion Job

Maria Linares

Ines Mesquita

Anna Turco