The Wildcat women’s tennis team will host the Oklahoma Sooners this Friday at home. The Wildcats are coming off their first two-game losing streak this season, recently racking up a loss to No. 17 Kansas.
The Wildcats go into this match 4-3 in conference play and the Sooners will come into match 3-4 in conference play. The Sooners are coming into this match with a win as they defeated TCU in their last match.
No. 36 K-State will be hungry for a win,after confronting Kansas and showing good heart in the match.
“This was a disappointing loss for sure, but the way we battled on every court, and the grit we showed is something I am extremely proud of,” head coach Danielle Steinberg said to K-State Sports after the match. “We had a rough outing on Friday against Wichita State, where we did not give ourselves the opportunity to get into matches and fight for them, and the team really took it to heart to change that today. Today’s team is the team I know and love, and that’s the team that is taking this program to special places.”
The Wildcats will have business to take care of as they want to finish their season strong and not in disappoinment. With just two matches left before the Big 12 Championship this next match will be crucial for the Wildcats to get a victory.
In those last two matches, the Wildcats got off to a slow start and found themselves down early with their instability. They have had success early this year when they get ahead early, and control the match from that point on.
The doubles for the Wildcats hasn’t been strong during their two-game losing streak, as doubles has carried the team for most of the year. No.2 doubles Maria Linares and Anna Turco have lost back-to-back matches, and Margrot Decker and Carolina Costamagna have currently lost their last three matches. Rosanna Maffei and Ines Mesquita was the only pair that won in doubles in the last match against Kansas.
The Wildcats need their doubles play to step back up, and become reliable again for the cats to finish their season strong. If the Wildcats get strong doubles play, and get out to an early lead, they should have no problem taking care of Oklahoma.
This match will be played at Mike Goss Tennis Stadium in Manhattan, starting at 3 p.m. The Wildcats will then face off against another team at home, playing Oklahoma State Sunday at 11 a.m.
