The Kansas State tennis team had a respectable showing this weekend, but it unfortunately suffered its first loss of the season in a second place finish at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend championship round in Atlanta.
On Friday of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, the Wildcats defeated the College of William and Mary 4-1 in sets behind four singles victories.
K-State sophomore Maria Linares defeated Rosie Cheng of William and Mary 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), with fellow sophomores Margot Decker and Anna Turco also picking up wins over Natalia Perry and Clara Tanielian, respectively.
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In the fourth win for the Wildcats, junior Ines Mesquita dominated her matchup with Lauren Goodman, 6-0, 6-2.
This win put the Wildcats in the championship round against No. 5 Georgia on Saturday.
K-State began strong against Georgia as No. 1 doubles duo Decker and Turco took down Georgia’s top duo Vivian Wolff and Lourdes Carle 6-2. The Bulldogs responded by winning the matchups on courts two and three to secure the doubles point.
Also in doubles, Linares and Mesquita lost to Elena Christofi and Morgan Coppoc 6-2, and K-State freshmen Karine-Marion Job and Ioana Gheorghita lost to Katarina Jokic and Meg Kowalski 6-4.
In singles, K-State’s Linares took Georgia’s No. 14 nationally ranked Marta Gonzalez to the third set in singles before taking the loss, 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).
Decker was defeated by the No. 1 nationally ranked Jokic, 6-2, 6-4. Turco also took a defeat to No. 78 Carle in two sets, 6-0, 6-2.
Mesquita fell to No. 54 Wolff in two sets, 6-2, 6-1, Job took the defeat at the hands of Christofi, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 and Gheorghita took a loss to Kowalski in two sets, 6-0, 6-1.
K-State ultimately lost the championship round to Georgia 7-0, the team’s first loss of the young season.
K-State’s season record is now 2-1 overall. Next, the tennis team will face the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Friday.
