Kansas State women’s tennis team battled against its nationally-ranked opponents. The Wildcats, struggling with injuries, faced No. 18 Oklahoma State on Sunday in Manhattan.
The 2-19 Wildcats were forced to forfeit at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles due to injuries. Despite this setback, freshman Vanesa Suarez and sophomore Florentine Dekkers put up a valiant effort in singles play, but the Wildcats ultimately fell 4-1 to Oklahoma State.
Dekkers and freshman Rozalia Gruszczynska started the day losing their No. 2 doubles match 6-1 earning the first Cowgirl point. The second point for Oklahoma State was earned in singles against junior Aleen Quamar in straight sets of 6-2 and 6-1 at the No. 4 singles position.
The match then progressed to No. 5 singles, where junior Manami Ukita fell 6-0, 6-3.
Suarez managed to secure her fifth win of the season and the only Wildcat point at the No. 2 singles match. Suarez clinched the match by winning the second and third sets 6-2 and 6-4 after losing the first set 6-2.
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Dekkers lost her opening set at the No. 1 singles position against Kristina Novak with a score of 7-5. However, Dekkers made a comeback in her second set, winning it 7-5. The third set saw Dekkers go down 1-0 but was left unfinished due to the forfeited match that ended the day.
K-State will be back in action Thursday at the Big 12 Tennis Championship. The Wildcats will be playing against the No. 7 seed Baylor Bears who won its regular season matchup 4-2 against K-State.
The match will take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence.
