Karine-Marine Job — KJ for short — competed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Fall Championships at the Barnes Tennis Complex in San Diego, California, on Nov. 4-5. On day one of the competition, Job fell to the No.1 player Abigail Forbes from UCLA, but she still made history through the competition. KJ went up against 32 of the top national collegiate athletes.
“This is the best player she has ever played, and credit goes to them,” head coach Jordan Smith said. “Hands down, this was some of the best tennis I have ever seen. It was just one of those days where KJ couldn’t do much. It is a level we strive to get to, and it is not easy to get to it in the beginning.”
Job was held scoreless against Forbes, losing 6-0 in set one and 6-0 in set two.
This was the end of day one of the competition. Day two began with a round of 16, followed by consolation singles quarterfinals.
“KJ will have a quick turnaround and be ready to play against someone who has the same feelings as her,” Smith said ahead of day two. “She will need to go out there and show more in the consolation tournament.”
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Day two started off strong for KJ. The loss on day one put her in the consolation bracket, where she went against Denver product Anna Reidmiller first. Job was victorious against Reidmiller in two sets: 6-3 in set one and 7-6(4) in set two.
“It was a nice bounce-back for KJ today,” head coach Jordan Smith said after the match. “I thought she played well in all four sets and pulled out a very strong win against a great player from Denver.”
The victory over Reidmiller advanced Job to the quarterfinals, matching up against Alexandra Yepifanova from Stanford. However, Job fell to Yepifanova in two sets: 6-4 in the first and 6-3 in the second set.
“She came up against a better player with a similar tennis style in the second match and honestly, I’m just happy that she found a way to get in a better rhythm early in both matches today,” Smith said.
This loss marked the end of the fall season for Job, while the rest of the Wildcats competed in the Big 12 Fall Championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Saturday, Nov. 6.
