Garakani Earns Two Wins on Day Two of K-State Invitational

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Junior Sana Garakani earned wins in both singles and doubles to highlight play on a rainy day two of the K-State Invitational on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 21) at Mike Goss Tennis Stadium.

A native of Lisbon, Portugal and a transfer from Middle Tennessee State continued her strong performance at the Wildcats' first home tournament since 2020 with a straight set victory over Arkansas' Jimena Gomez Alonso, 6-1, 6-1, before teaming with sophomore Veronika Kulhava to defeat Arkansas' Katarina Pavlechova and Liltha Ndugane, 6-2, in doubles play.

Garakani also registered a singles and doubles win on Friday's day one, teaming with fellow junior Maria Santos for a 6-3 win over South Florida's Loana Gonzalez and Karine Kuligjian before rallying for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over the Bulls' Margherita Marcon.

The rest of the Wildcat team were not as fortunate as Garakani on Saturday, dropping four other singles matches and the other doubles match.

Sophomore Maralgoo Chogsomjav, who was victorious in a pair of doubles matches and a singles match on Friday, lost her singles match to freshman Cristina Ramos Sierra, 2-6, 5-7, before her and junior Maria Santos dropped their doubles match to Iowa State's sophomore Ashlee Narker and Ramos Sierra, 3-6. Santos also lost her singles match, 6-3, 6-1, to Arkansas' freshman Katarina Pavlechova.

Iowa State won its other two singles matches against K-State, as freshman Mari Paz Alberto Vilar defeated sophomore Zali Morris, 6-1, 6-1, while Narker swept senior Veronika Kulhava, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

The three-day tournament, which also includes teams from South Florida and Wichita State, concludes with another round of singles play on Sunday (Sept. 22). Due to expected inclement weather, the competition will move to Body First Fitness Center beginning at 8 a.m., CT.

Two other Wildcats - sophomores Charlotte Keitel and Tereza Polakova – also competed on Saturday afternoon at the International Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championship in Cary, N.C., at Cary Tennis Park.

Keitel earned a 6-4, 6-2 win over USC' Parker Fry to advance to the Round of 64 on Sunday, where she will take on Appalachian State's Savannah Dada-Mascoll. Polakova lost to Princeton's Alice Ferlito, 4-6, 6-7 (7-9), in the first round.

K-State Invitational (Mike Goss Tennis Stadium, Manhattan, Kan.)
Singles
Iowa State's Cristina Ramos Sierra def. K-State's Maralgoo Chogsomjav, 6-2, 7-5
K-State's Sana Garakani def. Arkansas' Jimena Gomez Alonso, 6-1, 6-1
Iowa State's Mari Paz Alberto Vilar def. K-State's Zali Morris, 6-1, 6-1
Arkansas' Katarina Pavlechova def. K-State's Maria Santos, 6-3, 6-1
Iowa State's Ashlee Narker (ISU) def. K-State's Veronika Kulhava, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2

Doubles
Iowa State's Ashlee Narker/ Cristina Ramos Sierra def. K-State's Maralgoo Chogsomjav/Maria Santos, 6-3
K-State's Veronika Kulhava/Sana Garakani def. Arkansas' Katarina Pavlechova/Lilitha Ndungane, 6-2

ITA All-American Championship (Cary Tennis Park, Cary, N.C.)
Singles
K-State's Charlotte Keitel def. USC's Parker Fry, 6-4, 6-2
Princeton's Alice Ferlito def. K-State's Tereza Polakova, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7)

How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on the K-State Women's Tennis Team, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

Kansas State University Athletics

Garakani Earns Two Wins on Day Two of K-State Invitational

Players Mentioned

Maralgoo Chogsomjav

Sana Garakani

Charlotte Keitel

Veronika Kulhava

Zali Morris

Tereza Polakova

Maria Santos

Related Videos