K-State Opens Spring Play Against Penn State Monday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Looking to springboard off a successful Fall 2019 campaign, the Kansas State women's tennis team will open the Spring 2020 season by hosting Big Ten foe Penn State at 11 a.m., CT on Monday, January 20 at the Body First Tennis Center.

Led by second-year head coach Jordan Smith, the Wildcats hope to ascend to greater heights after a 13-11 season that resulted in eight home victories for the 2019 spring season. The team returns eight letter winners from the 2018-19 campaign, as the Wildcats look to position themselves for a chance to enter the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons after narrowly missing the opportunity last season.

"We're all looking forward to being back in a team atmosphere on Monday, since we are hardly all together during the fall season," said Smith. "We did a great job competing as a whole this past fall. Probably the best overall results we've had in a while. Seeing how well they ended the fall and coming back motivated for our training week, I believe this team is ready to take on our challenging spring slate that doesn't have easy matches."

K-State is led by its two seniors -- Ines Mesquita and Meghan King -- while junior Lilla Barzo arrives as the lone newcomer for an experienced Wildcat team. Rounding out the roster are juniors Maria Linares, Margot Decker and Anna Turco and sophomores Ioana Gheorghita, Rosanna Maffei and Karine-Marion Job.

The Wildcats are coming off a successful fall campaign, in which, the team sent a program-record four participants to the ITA All-American Championships back on October 7-11. Linares made her way into the history books during the Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the Maracay, Venezuela product claimed three victories in singles play during the Pre-Qualifying Round, which made her the first Wildcat to advance to the Qualifying Round of the event in team history.

K-State built on its successful run at the ITA All-American Championships with another solid result at the Central Regional Championships in Norman, Oklahoma on October 17-20. The Wildcats used seven victories in singles competition on the first day of the event to set the tone for the rest of the tournament, as the team would accumulate 13 victories over a three-day period. Linares, Maffei and Decker all reached the Round of 16 in their respective brackets for the tournament in singles play, while Gheorghita and Job contributed with wins in singles play during the opening rounds.

At the start of fall play, Maffei pulled off an incredible run at the Marliss Gruver Fall Invitational in Auburn, Alabama, as the Atripalda, Italy native scorched through bracket play to claim four singles victories en route to a Flight A Title win. Maffei's title run was the first by any Wildcat since Decker pulled off the same feat at the UNC Invitational during the 2017 fall season.

Decker and junior Anna Turco were both recently voted into the ITA Top 60 Doubles rankings for their play in fall competition at No. 54, marking the first time in five years any K-State pairing has cracked into the national rankings for doubles play.

Turco earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors as a sophomore in 2019, as she led K-State with 14 singles victories during the spring season, including five wins in Big 12 play. She worked her way to the top of the singles lineup for the first time in her career, as she was slotted in the No. 1 position for the Big 12 Championship. She ended the year by winning six of her last seven singles matches, including a stretch of five straight.

Penn State returns eight players from the 2018-19 campaign, in which, the Nittany Lions posted an 11-11 record, while registering three victories in conference play. Gabby O'Gorman and Samantha Smit lead an experienced group, as the duo combined for 42 victories in singles play, primarily out of the No. 1 and 5 spots.

After Saturday's home opener with the Nittany Lions, the Wildcats will catch a flight to Durham, N.C. to play in the ITA Kickoff Weekend special with a matchup against Duke on Saturday, January 25 at 2 p.m. CT.

"This team has an opportunity to do something special this year and it starts on Monday against Penn State," said Smith.
For the latest on K-State tennis follow @kstatesports and @KStateTEN on Twitter or Kansas State Tennis on Facebook.

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Players Mentioned

Karine-Marion Job

Anna Turco

Kansas State University Athletics