SE: It’s Just Confidence – Wildcats Continue to Grow at K-State Fall Invite
Nov 03, 2020 | Tennis, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
After each point at Mike Goss Tennis Stadium, the self-talk occurs in about six different languages.
If you take away the stadium and forget about the crowd, tennis is basically a sport where student-athletes are asked to go stand in a little box and do something they know they're good at without losing their composure when things don't go well.
At times, competitive singles tennis can feel like the loneliest sport at K-State.
That's why the most important words on the court this weekend weren't spoken in Hungarian, French, Romanian, Italian, Spanish or Japanese.
They were "Go Cats."
Every few minutes a player would say it and the response would come from every single court at Mike Goss Tennis Stadium.
Even as five singles matches were going on at once, K-State Tennis was still a team.
"We have our ups and downs, but that's normal," Maria Linares said. "In tennis, you never know what to expect until the end of the match. I think everybody did a really good job supporting each other and never gave up."
Hosting the first tournament in Manhattan in seven years, K-State picked up 13 singles victories over the weekend against Kansas and Iowa State.
The Wildcats tied a team record for victories in a home tournament, with Linares, Ioana Gheorghita and freshman Manami Ukita sweeping their matches over the weekend. With a chance to make some history on Sunday, K-State Tennis didn't mess around.
"That's kind of what we were expecting. We've seen KU and Iowa State this fall, and we're in the Big 12, so we know what they can do," head coach Jordan Smith said. "Both teams are getting better, but we knew that if we played our style, we could get those wins."
Georghita completed a breakout weekend on Sunday with 7-6 (6-3), 6-3 win over Maty Cancini.
Cancini entered the 2020-21 season with the fifth-most victories in Iowa State history, but couldn't take a set off Georghita after the K-State junior pushed through in an early tiebreak.
"Tough one," Georghita said. "Jordan was like, 'You can do better, you can do better.' He just pushed me through it."
With five singles wins through the first two tournaments of the season, the junior from Romania is on pace for a career season in Manhattan. She's also undefeated in doubles play with Anna Turco.
For the first time since the spring, the Wildcats had the opportunity to play home matches with a K-State crowd behind them. Even with blustery conditions throughout the weekend, that support made a difference.
Battling through her singles match on Sunday afternoon, Linares turned to some friends in the stands and asked in mock exasperation, "Anybody want to switch?"
Linares and Karine-Marion Job continued their dominant run through doubles play with another perfect weekend against Kansas and Iowa State.
The juniors are now 13-2 as a pairing since last fall.
"Maria and Ioana did fantastic this weekend. I think Maria was 7-0 over the weekend in singles and Iona was 6-1," Smith said. "I was really proud with how well they did in singles and doubles. I think we identified some new pairs, so that was really good from our 'Cats today."
Georghita had some K-State classmates and her boyfriend in attendance on Sunday, as she used a huge first set tiebreak to win her third singles match of the weekend.
"I feel good. I feel consistent. After every point, I'm playing to win," she said. "It felt good to be home and have our friends come and cheer for us."
Ukita has been a revelation for the Wildcats through the first two tournaments of her K-State career.
The freshman from Japan used a perfect weekend at the K-State Fall Invite to push her fall record to 6-1, continuing a strong finish to a year that began at the junior Australian Open.
"I was very impressed with how Manami came out in singles as a freshman," Smith said. "She beat some girls that might have been a little tough for her, avenged a loss from the tournament at KU and made it look pretty easy. Hats off to her."
The Wildcats will have a week to recover and prepare for a unique only-in-2020 tournament, the Big 12 Fall Individuals at Oklahoma State.
With a chance to test themselves against the rest of the conference, K-State looks ready.
"Nothing has to change just because we see new faces on the other side of the court or a new doubles pair," Smith said. "It's just confidence. Hopefully this tournament showed them that."
After each point at Mike Goss Tennis Stadium, the self-talk occurs in about six different languages.
If you take away the stadium and forget about the crowd, tennis is basically a sport where student-athletes are asked to go stand in a little box and do something they know they're good at without losing their composure when things don't go well.
At times, competitive singles tennis can feel like the loneliest sport at K-State.
That's why the most important words on the court this weekend weren't spoken in Hungarian, French, Romanian, Italian, Spanish or Japanese.
They were "Go Cats."
Every few minutes a player would say it and the response would come from every single court at Mike Goss Tennis Stadium.
Even as five singles matches were going on at once, K-State Tennis was still a team.
"We have our ups and downs, but that's normal," Maria Linares said. "In tennis, you never know what to expect until the end of the match. I think everybody did a really good job supporting each other and never gave up."
Hosting the first tournament in Manhattan in seven years, K-State picked up 13 singles victories over the weekend against Kansas and Iowa State.
The Wildcats tied a team record for victories in a home tournament, with Linares, Ioana Gheorghita and freshman Manami Ukita sweeping their matches over the weekend. With a chance to make some history on Sunday, K-State Tennis didn't mess around.
"That's kind of what we were expecting. We've seen KU and Iowa State this fall, and we're in the Big 12, so we know what they can do," head coach Jordan Smith said. "Both teams are getting better, but we knew that if we played our style, we could get those wins."
Georghita completed a breakout weekend on Sunday with 7-6 (6-3), 6-3 win over Maty Cancini.
Cancini entered the 2020-21 season with the fifth-most victories in Iowa State history, but couldn't take a set off Georghita after the K-State junior pushed through in an early tiebreak.
"Tough one," Georghita said. "Jordan was like, 'You can do better, you can do better.' He just pushed me through it."
With five singles wins through the first two tournaments of the season, the junior from Romania is on pace for a career season in Manhattan. She's also undefeated in doubles play with Anna Turco.
For the first time since the spring, the Wildcats had the opportunity to play home matches with a K-State crowd behind them. Even with blustery conditions throughout the weekend, that support made a difference.
Battling through her singles match on Sunday afternoon, Linares turned to some friends in the stands and asked in mock exasperation, "Anybody want to switch?"
Linares and Karine-Marion Job continued their dominant run through doubles play with another perfect weekend against Kansas and Iowa State.
The juniors are now 13-2 as a pairing since last fall.
"Maria and Ioana did fantastic this weekend. I think Maria was 7-0 over the weekend in singles and Iona was 6-1," Smith said. "I was really proud with how well they did in singles and doubles. I think we identified some new pairs, so that was really good from our 'Cats today."
Georghita had some K-State classmates and her boyfriend in attendance on Sunday, as she used a huge first set tiebreak to win her third singles match of the weekend.
"I feel good. I feel consistent. After every point, I'm playing to win," she said. "It felt good to be home and have our friends come and cheer for us."
Ukita has been a revelation for the Wildcats through the first two tournaments of her K-State career.
The freshman from Japan used a perfect weekend at the K-State Fall Invite to push her fall record to 6-1, continuing a strong finish to a year that began at the junior Australian Open.
"I was very impressed with how Manami came out in singles as a freshman," Smith said. "She beat some girls that might have been a little tough for her, avenged a loss from the tournament at KU and made it look pretty easy. Hats off to her."
The Wildcats will have a week to recover and prepare for a unique only-in-2020 tournament, the Big 12 Fall Individuals at Oklahoma State.
With a chance to test themselves against the rest of the conference, K-State looks ready.
"Nothing has to change just because we see new faces on the other side of the court or a new doubles pair," Smith said. "It's just confidence. Hopefully this tournament showed them that."
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