K-State Concludes Day One with Multiple Match Victories at Ole Miss Invite

OXFORD, Miss. – The Kansas State women's tennis team enjoyed a strong start to the Ole Miss Fall Invite on Friday (September 24), as the Wildcats earned four singles victories and two doubles wins against competitors from Alabama and Ole Miss at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in Oxford, Miss.

"I'm pleased with our start today," stated head coach Jordan Smith. "Always hard to know where we stand with only reps against each other. Breaking even in singles and doubles shows we have a good foundation, but still not at our peak. Up to our ladies to see if they can push a little more the next two days and extend their ceiling."

Seniors Maria Linares and Karine-Marion Job led day one with a 6-2 doubles' victory over Ole Miss's Sabina Machalova and Anaelle Leclerq. The Wildcats came out strong and took the lead immediately before closing out the match.

Senior Ioana Gheorghita and freshman Florentine Dekkers had a hard-fought doubles' battle against Kelsey Mize and Elysia Pool from Ole Miss, but ended the match with a 7-5 win. The duo started strong before Ole Miss made a comeback and tied the match 5-5. Gheorghita and Dekkers rallied for the final two points to finish off the match.

The final two doubles' teams suffered defeats against their Ole Miss counterparts. The tandem of freshman Dinara Alloyarova and senior Anna Turco dropped a close match to Tiphanie Fiquet and Ludmila Kareisova, 7-5, while the pair of senior Rosanna Maffei and sophomore Manami Ukita fell to Rachel Krzyzak and Lillian Gabrielson.

Finishing strong on the first day of the invite was Dekkers, who posted a 6-0, 6-2 singles' victory over Alabama's Ansley Cheshire. This was the Netherlands native's first ever collegiate singles match.

Alloyarova, a Russian nation, also clinched her first collegiate singles match victory on Friday with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Eesha Gudiseva from Ole Miss.

"Happy that Dinara and Florentine got their first college wins for K-State today," said Smith. "I applauded them for not being overwhelmed at the moment and acting like seasoned college players."

Turco earned K-State's third singles victory of the day after taking down Alabama's Sydeny Orefice, 6-1, 6-1.

Gheorghita took home a 7-6 (12-10), 6-0 win against Alabama's Anna Parkhomenko, marking her 28^th career singles victory.

A tough three-set match went to Alabama's Petra Sedlackova over Linares, as the Wildcat senior took the first set, 7-6 (7-4), before dropping the last two sets, 6-0, 6-2.

Maffei also lost a close three-set match to Alabama's Anne Marie Hiser. After dropping the first set, 6-1, Maffei rallied to a post a 6-4 win in the second set before ultimately falling 7-5 in the final set.

Ukita and Job both dropped their singles matches in straight sets, as Ukita fell to Ole Miss' Kelsey Mize, 6-2, 6-0, while Job lost a 6-1, 6-3 contest to Alabama's Loudamilla Bencheikh.

"Tomorrow I want them to be more assertive on our sudden points and tone it down when they get in those ruts," explained Smith.

Day two of the competition will begin at 9 a.m., CT back at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center with K-State taking on Georgia in doubles. Singles matches against Ole Miss will start shortly after at 10 a.m., CT.

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

Kansas State University Athletics

K-State Concludes Day One with Multiple Match Victories at Ole Miss Invite

Players Mentioned

Dinara Alloyarova

Florentine Dekkers

Ioana Gheorghita

Karine-Marion Job

Maria Linares

Rosanna Maffei

Anna Turco

Manami Ukita

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