K-State Outduels North Texas, 4-3

Friday, February 15

Denton, Texas

2 p.m.

Kansas State University

North Texas

Feb 15, 2019 | Tennis

Box Score Box Score (.pdf)

DENTON, Texas – Four singles victories, capped by wins by freshmen Ioana Gheorghita and Maria Ponomareva, helped K-State complete a 4-3 comeback win over North Texas on Friday at the Waranch Tennis Complex.

"I'm really proud of the effort and fight by the team today," head coach Jordan Smith said. "This was a tough road win for us to pull out. North Texas played well today in both doubles and singles, they made us fight for everything. I am impressed with how well our freshmen did today. We got down 3-2 and it came down to two freshmen to get us the final two points and a win. They handled being in that moment as well as I could've hoped.

"A lot credit goes to their teammates for the incredible support down the stretch," added Smith. "I'm glad we were able to pull that one out and we will be ready for Arizona tomorrow. It's been a while since we've played against them. Arizona is a good team and the Pac-12 is a strong tennis league. I believe tomorrow will be another good match for us."

K-State (4-2) trailed UNT (5-4) 3-2 with two singles matches remaining. Ponomareva, playing at the No. 5 spot in the lineup, claimed a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over MIngying Liang to level the score.

The outcome of the match rested on the final singles match Gheorghita against Ivana Babic at the sixth position. After Gheorghita took the opening set 6-3, Babic responded and sent the match to a decisive set with a 6-3 win of her own. In the third set, the Wildcat freshman prevailed, 6-4, to hand the Mean Green their first home loss of the season.

Prior to Ponomareva's and Gheoghita's wins, K-State received points via straight-set victories from sophomore Anna Turco at the No. 3 singles spot in addition to freshman Karine-Marion Job's two-set win at No. 4.

Turco upended UNT's Nidhi Surapaneni 6-3, 6-1 while Job ousted Alexandra Heczey 6-3, 6-2. Job pushed her singles winning streak to three consecutive matches, improving her spring record to 4-1.

North Texas, after sealing the doubles point, was a point away from victory after claiming two wins from the top two spots in singles. Tamuna Kutubidze, the 69th-ranked player in the country, needed three sets to defeat K-State sophomore Margot Decker 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.

At No. 2, Ines Mesquita fell to Maria Kononova 6-4, 7-5.

In doubles competition, the duo of Job and Mesquita picked up a 6-4 win over the Babic and Heczey for the Cats' only doubles win.

Decker and Turco battled the 19th-ranked doubles team of Kutubidze and Kononova before losing, 6-3. Gheorghita and Ponomareva lost to Nidhi Surapaneni and Minying Liang, 7-5, at No. 3 doubles.

Turco began the day for the Cats in singles by winning over Surapaneni, 6-3, 6-1. Job followed suit after she defeated Heczey, 6-3, 6-2.

Ponomareva picked up her second win of the spring season in singles after she defeated Liang, 6-2, 7-6, (7-5). Gheorghita also won over Babic after three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Kutubidze, who is ranked No. 19 nationally, defeated Decker after three sets, 2-6, 6-1, 6-0. Mesquita lost to Kononova, 6-4, 7-5.

On Saturday, K-State will move to Dallas to take on the Arizona Wildcats (3-1) at 2 p.m. at Turbin Stadium on the campus of SMU. Live updates will be available via the team's official Twitter page @KStateTEN during Saturday's competition.