Cats Sweep 40th-Ranked Shockers to Close Non-Con Play

Thursday, March 7

Manhattan

2 p.m.

Kansas State University

Wichita State

Mar 07, 2019 | Tennis

Box Score Box Score (.pdf)Match Highlights

MANHATTAN, Kan. – In its final non-conference match of the season, No. 37 K-State overpowered 40^th-ranked Wichita State, 7-0, Thursday afternoon at Body First Indoor Tennis Center.

K-State (10-3) snapped a four-match skid to the Shockers (7-5) with its first win in the series since 2014. The Wildcats also ended WSU's six-match winning streak in picking up their second ranked win of the season.

"That was a really good effort by all our girls today," said first-year head coach Jordan Smith. "To come out there and win six singles matches and get the doubles point, that's what we were hoping for. We've been on a tough stretch and for us to finish out this last match of non-conference play against a really good Wichita State team, was really impressive by all of our girls today.

"That's what's great about building a strong non-conference schedule, we can challenge our girls all the time. That way when we get into tough situations like we did today, they're ready for it. Wichita State didn't go away. After we won the doubles point, they battled back and we had to earn it – every single point. So I was really proud of our first three singles matches."

The Wildcats' No. 2 doubles team of Karine-Marion Job and Ines Mesquita clinched the doubles point with a comeback victory following a split at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles. Job and Mesquita trailed WSU's Sandra Honigova and Marta Bellucco 4-1 before rattling off the next five games for a 6-4 victory.

"We needed that," Smith said of Job's and Mesquita's come-from-behind victory. "For Ines and Karine to turn that around, being down 4-1, and getting back to what we talked about – you've got to own it and you've got to show you're the best doubles team out there."

On Court 3, Ioana Gheorghita and Maria Linares claimed a 6-3 win over Lingwei Kong and Ting-Ya Hsu before Margot Decker and Anna Turco fell 6-4 in a back-and-forth match at the No. 1 spot against Esther Thebault and Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva.

Job and Mesquita improve their doubles mark to 6-1 while the duo of Gheorghita and Linares are now a perfect 3-0 when paired together. K-State claimed the doubles point for the third consecutive match and the fourth time in its last five matches overall.

Job extended K-State's leads with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kong at No. 3 to kick off singles action. Job improves her team-best singles record to 10-2.

Linares came out on top in a second-set tiebreaker at the second singles position, defeating Thebault 6-1, 7-6 (3) to pull the Cats one point away from their first victory over WSU since 2014.

Decker needed a third set but was able to upend Honigova, 6-0, 4-6, 2-6, for the deciding fourth point. The French sophomore has a team-high five wins from the top spot in the K-State lineup.

The remaining three singles matches played eight-game pro sets, as Turco defeated Saidhujaeva 8-3, giving the Cats a 5-0 edge. Turco has won six of her last seven singles matches overall.

Mesquita, playing at the fifth spot, overtook Hsu 8-3, and freshman Maria Ponomareva ousted Alexandra Lazarova, 8-4 to round out play. The win marked Ponomareva's fourth consecutive singles victory.

"We've been battling this year, and it's really nice to see how great of a team they've been with each other," Smith added. "When you have fun and you're always in there together, then good things are going to happen. That just shows when we enjoy it and we remember why we are out here playing."

K-State begins its Big 12 schedule next weekend with a trip to Oklahoma Friday before a Sunday matchup at Oklahoma State. Currently, the Sooners are ranked No. 34 while OSU is the nation's eighth-best team in the latest ITA rankings.

Fans can follow live stats at K-StateSports.com with live updates on the team's official Twitter page @KStateTEN.