The tennis squad wrapped up their trip to Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday with five singles victories.
“We competed well against Utah today,” head coach Jordan Smith said in a K-State Athletics press release. “It’s never easy to bring out your best three days in a row. However, some of our ladies played their best tennis today for the week. Utah wanted to win badly, so I am proud of our ladies for digging out five wins in singles.”
Maria Linares, Karine-Marion Job, Anna Turco, Lilla Barzo and Manami Ukita took home singles victories on Wednesday.
Linares struggled going into the Big 12/Pac-12 Dual but made a comeback win in a third set, defeating Utah’s Madeline Lamoreaux 1-6, 6-2, 7-6.
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The other four Wildcats clinched their wins in two sets. Barzo’s win helped her remain perfect in Arlington, and improve to 3-0 on the trip, defeating Utah’s Anastasia Goncharova 6-4, 6-1.
Ukita came out on top in doubles play on Wednesday, alongside teammate Ioana Gheorghita. The duo bested the KU pairing of Malkia Ngounoue and Carmen Roxana Manu who were ranked as the No. 49 pair in the nation.
“I’m so pumped for Ioana and Manami,” Smith said. “Best doubles of the week. Just dominated and owned it from start to finish. They beat a strong KU team in their third outing together.”
Ukita dominated in her singles match, defeating Utah’s Madison McKay 6-0, 6-1. Turco defeated Utah’s Anya Lamoreaux 6-2, 6-4, and Job defeated Utah’s Jasmine Rich 6-0, 6-2.
K-State notched 14 singles’ victories over their three-day stay in Texas. That mark is a new season-best for the Wildcats, topping their 13 victories at the K-State Fall Invite in October.
Smith and the squad takes on Texas Tech on Jan. 21 in Norman, Oklahoma.
“We know that Tech is good, and it was a battle for us on Monday,” Smith told K-State Athletics. “It’s a lot different gearing up for just one match rather than playing a three-day event. I think we’ll be primed to put ourselves in a great position next week.”
