K-State Wraps Up Final Day of Kansas Invitational

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas State women's tennis team closed out the final day of the Kansas Invitational with two more singles' wins, pushing their total to 13 over the three-day tournament, to go with two more in doubles' play on Sunday (October 4) at the Jayhawk Tennis Center.

The 13 wins tied the best mark for the Wildcats at a fall tournament since the ITA Central Regional Championship back on October 20, 2019.

"Overall, I was very happy with our performance this weekend," said head coach Jordan Smith. "We came out with a winning record in singles and broke even in doubles. We have not spent a lot of time working on doubles drills or establishing our pairings. Therefore, it was very encouraging to see us get wins while mixing up our pairings each day."

The Wildcats were able to push their win total to 13 due in part to the junior tandem of Rosanna Maffei and Karine-Marion Job, who handled their opponents in convincing fashion on Sunday afternoon.

Maffei, a product of Atripalda, Italy, pushed her match with KU's Tiffany Lagarde to a third set after trailing early, but left no doubts on the court in the second and third sets as she sent Lagarde home with a score line of 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Job stepped on the gas and never let off in her two-set win over Iowa State's Ellie Murphy, as the Lyon, France native took down the Cyclone with a score of 6-4, 6-3.

In the doubles' session, Job was paired with fellow junior Ioana Gheorghita and the two rallied past Iowa State's Maty Cancini and Ting-Pei Chang for a 6-2 set win. The second win came from the combo of senior Lilla Barzo and freshman Manami Ukita, who took down a tough duo in Tiffany Lagarde and Carmen Roxana Manu from Kansas with a set victory at 6-4.

"Credit to our team for finding balance with each doubles' partner," said Smith.

Other Wildcats involved in Sunday's action included senior Margot Decker and juniors Maria Linares and Anna Turco, as all three competed well in both sessions at the Jayhawk Tennis Center.

Decker fought hard in her two-set defeat to the Cyclones' Chie Kezuka, 2-6, 4-6. An injury retirement plagued Linares' bout with KU's Carmen Roxana Manu, as she would pull out of the match trailing 4-6, 1-3. Turco grabbed a nice win in her second set with Kansas' Visiliki Karvouni, but ended her day with a three-set defeat to the Jayhawk at 3-6, 6-1, 2-6.

Entering Sunday's session undefeated in singles play, Ukita chipped away at Iowa State's Christen Hsieh's lead, but fell short in her attempt to send the match to a third set. Hsieh went on to claim the victory over Ukita at 6-4, 6-1.

K-State closed out the tournament with Gheorghita's three-set thriller in the last singles' match of the afternoon slate. After tying up the match with a 7-5 second-set win, Gheorghita faltered in the last few games of the third set as Iowa State's Ting-Pei Chang claimed the win with a final score line of 7-5, 5-7, 7-5.

"Today was our toughest day in terms of finding that extra push at the end," said Smith. "I told our team that I want to see them running through the finish line instead of jogging at our home tournament in three weeks."

K-State will now look towards its first home tournament since 2013, as the team hosts the K-State Fall Invitational on Friday, October 30 through Sunday, November 1. The fall invitational will feature conference rivals Iowa State and Kansas over the three-day stretch.

KU Invitational
Jayhawk Tennis Center
October 4, 2020

Doubles Play

Malkia Ngounoue/Sonia Smagina (KU) def. Anna Turco/Margot Decker (KSU), 6-1
Vasiliki Karvouni/Julia Deming (KU) def. Manami Ukita/Lilla Barzo (KSU), 6-4
Maty Cancini/Ellie Murphy (ISU) def. Ioana Gheorghita/Rosanna Maffei (KSU), 6-1
Julia Deming/Vasiliki Karvouni (KU) def. Anna Turco/Maria Linares (KSU), 6-3
Lilla Barzo/Manami Ukita (KSU) def. Tiffany Lagarde/Carmen Roxana Manu (KU) 6-4
Ioana Gheorghita/Karine-Marion Job (KSU) def. Maty Cancini/Ting-Pei Chang (ISU), 6-2

Singles Play

Rosanna Maffei (KSU) def. Tiffany Lagarde (KU), 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
Karine-Marion Job (KSU) def. Ellie Murphy (ISU), 6-4, 6-3
Sonia Smagina (KU) def. Lilla Barzo (KSU), 6-0, 6-2
Carmen Roxana Manu (KU) def. Maria Linares (KSU), 6-4, 3-1
Christen Hsieh (ISU) def. Manami Ukita (KSU), 6-4, 6-1
Chie Kezuka (ISU) def. Margot Decker (KSU), 6-2, 6-4
Visiliki Karvouni (KU) def. Anna Turco (KSU), 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
Ting-Pei Chang (ISU) def. Ioana Gheorghita (KSU), 7-5, 5-7, 7-5

For the latest on K-State tennis follow @kstatesports and @KStateTEN on Twitter or K-State Women's Tennis on Facebook.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Margot Decker

Ioana Gheorghita

Karine-Marion Job

Maria Linares

Rosanna Maffei

Anna Turco

Manami Ukita