K-State Drops First Home Match of 2020, 4-1, to No. 23 Washington

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Taking on its second nationally ranked opponent in dual match play, the Kansas State women's tennis team was ousted at home by No. 23 Washington, 4-1, on Friday afternoon at the Body First Tennis Center. The loss snaps a four-match win streak for K-State.

"I thought they came in and just played better in the bigger points than us," said Head Coach Jordan Smith. "I kind of knew that, they are probably a little bit more battle tested more recently than we have been and that probably came down to it. I definitely think it's a missed opportunity because I don't think we played as well as we could have. Definitely not as well as some our other matches when there is less on the line. Obviously, we know in those big moments we kind of need to bring it a little more because we run out of opportunities."

Churning out four impressive victories from the previous two weeks, the Wildcats streak was halted as Washington, the No. 23 ranked program in the country, clinched the doubles point while locking up three of the first four matches in singles play.

A bright spot on the day for K-State came from the No. 3 spot in singles competition as junior Margot Decker secured her sixth-consecutive win, extending her career long winning streak in a Wildcat uniform. Decker, who faltered the first set in her match, blazed through Washington's Sedona Gallagher with back-to-back 6-2 set performances to earn the first point of the day for K-State.

"They were a good team and we were expecting a tough match," stated Decker. "Individually, I feel like in my first set, I was not focused. In my second set, I was thinking about looking at the ball and it came back, and I just did the work."

Filling out the top portion of singles play, juniors Maria Linares and Anna Turco competed hard with the Huskies' Vanessa Wong and Natsuho Arakawa, who are ranked No. 66 and 82 in the ITA polls. Both K-State players dropped their matchups in two sets, however, to kick off singles competition.

In the No. 1 slot, Linares pressured Wong from the start but could not overcome the Huskies' ace, falling to a score of 3-6, 3-6. Turco attempted to extend her match to a third set during a tight battle in the second stanza until Arakawa clinched the seventh game, giving Turco her second loss of the year with a score line of 1-6, 5-7.

Junior Lilla Barzo gave up the final point of the day and sealed K-State's fate in the match as the newcomer loss in straight sets, 1-6, 0-6, to the Huskies' Nika Zupancic.

Locking up the doubles point in both matches last weekend, K-State started out slow from the beginning and could not recover in time, resulting in a 1-0 deficit entering the singles portion of the match. The duo of Linares and sophomore Karine-Marion Job were overrun by Washington's Wong and Arakawa, leaving the court with a 3-6 loss from the No. 1 position. In the No. 3 hole, junior Lilla Barzo and senior Ines Mesquita fell early in their set with a 2-6 loss coming from Washington's Zoey Weil and Gallagher.

The Wildcats will now head to Iowa City, Iowa to regain their momentum when the team faces off with DePaul and Iowa on Saturday, February 22 and Sunday, February 23 at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex.

"It is going to be good," said Smith. "DePaul and Iowa, they're both going to be tough teams. Neutral match against DePaul and a home match for Iowa. It's not going to be easy. There are no breaks on our whole schedule. We just need to go out there and if we play our game, we can come out of there 2-0. But they not going to it to us. It's all about taking ownership and taking initiative. We do that, I think we will be good."

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

Kansas State vs. No. 23 Washington
February 14, 2020
Body First Tennis Center

Doubles Play
Order of Finish: 3, 1

No. 1. Wong/Arakawa (WASH) def. Linares/Job (KSU) 6-3
No. 2. Decker Turco (KSU) vs. Kopcalic/Zupancic (WASH) 5-4, unfinished
No. 3 Weil/Gallagher (WASH) def. Mesquita/Barzo (KSU) 6-2

Singles Play:
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3, 5

No. 1. Vanessa Wong (WASH) def. Maria Linares (KSU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 2. Natsuho Arakawa (WASH) def. Anna Turco (KSU) 6-1, 7-5
No. 3. Margot Decker (KSU) def. Sedona Gallagher (WASH) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 4. Rosanna Maffei (KSU) vs. Katarina Kopcalic (WASH) 4-6, 2-1, unfinished
No. 5. Nika Zupancic (WASH) def. Lilla Barzo (KSU) 6-1, 6-0
No. 6. Ines Mesquita (KSU) vs. Zoey Weil (WASH) 4-4, unfinished

K-State Drops First Home Match of 2020, 4-1, to No. 23 Washington

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Players Mentioned

Margot Decker

Karine-Marion Job

Maria Linares

Rosanna Maffei

Ines Mesquita

Anna Turco

Players Mentioned

Margot Decker

Karine-Marion Job

Maria Linares

Rosanna Maffei

Ines Mesquita

Anna Turco

Kansas State University Athletics