"We maintained our level of play today," said head coach Jordan Smith. "Our energy was great in singles to start."
Singles play featured three efficient outings from juniors Rosanna Maffei and Ioana Gheorghita along with freshman Manami Ukita. The fourth win came from junior Maria Linares, who clawed back from an early deficit to take down Iowa State's Ting-Pei Chang in three sets, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
"When I started the first set, I was not feeling good when hitting the ball, so I was trying to make changes to come back and it worked," said Linares. "I was not feeling good physically and mentally, but I kept telling myself to keep putting the ball in play."
"I am happy that in the last set, I attacked more often without giving her that much time to do something."
Smith also noted Linares' efforts during her comeback win.
"Gritty is definitely the word to describe Maria's match today," Smith stated. "We told her after the match that this wasn't her best day as a tennis player, but it was definitely one of her best days being a competitor."
Maffei and Ukita swiftly defeated their opponents in the early stages of singles competition as Maffei used a 6-2, 6-2 score line to knock off the Cyclones' Ellie Murphy while Ukita continued to display great poise on the court with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Iowa State's Maty Cancini.
"Rosy (Rosanna Maffei) took care of business," said Smith. "Was so impressed by how well Manami (Ukita) and Ioana (Gheorghita) played today. They came out on fire and picked up two really good wins for them."
Competing on court five today was Gheorghita, who won a tight match with Kansas' Vasiliki Karvouni in the latter part of the singles' play with a 7-5, 6-4 win.
The Wildcats now have nine singles' victories through two days of the home tournament.
K-State handled its conference foes nicely for doubles play today, as Linares and teammate Karine-Marion Job earned two more wins in the morning session. The duo took down Iowa State's Chie Kezuka and Christen Hsieh in the first match with a score of 7-5, and then kicked things into gear against the Cyclones' Ellie Murphy and Maty Cancini with a 6-2 set win.
Job and Linares remain unbeaten in fall play with a 7-0 record in doubles' competition.
The paring of Gheorghita and junior Anna Turco gained an advantage against those same Cyclones to capture two victories of their own in doubles play. Both Wildcats locked in and grabbed an early victory against Iowa State's Maty Cancini and Ellie Murphy, 6-3, while earning another win against the Cyclones' Christen Hsieh and Chie Kezuka, 6-2.
"Our team has done a great job of understanding what our brand doubles needs to be," said Smith. "We've been switching up our pairings a lot to figure out where we can find good chemistry. Obviously, KJ (Karine-Marion Job) and Maria (Linares) have been dominant since the spring, so absolutely no surprise to their success."
"We kept some other pairs together and that was the difference in improving our doubles' performance."
In the other matches for singles play, Job and Turco fell in their third sets of the day against Iowa State and Kansas opponents. Turco fell off and could not rebound against Kansas' Julia Deming in three sets, 6-1, 3-6, 3-6. Job started strong with a 6-2 first set victory, but then stumbled in the final two sets, 4-6, 3-6, as she was defeated by Iowa State's Chie Kezuka.
Senior Margot Decker had to retire in her match with the Cyclones' Christen Hsieh, as she could not finish the first set and ended her day with a 1-4 loss.
The Wildcats will compete in the final day of the K-State Fall Invite tomorrow, Sunday, November 1, at 11 a.m. CT, at the Mike Goss Tennis Stadium before heading to participate in the Big 12 Fall Individuals on November 6-8 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
"We are treating tomorrow like closing out a match," said Smith. "We have to keep our foot on the gas and finish strong. Next weekend is a great way to close out the fall by playing against almost all the teams in the Big 12. I want our team to have as much momentum as possible to start the next event."
"Giving our best tomorrow will surely help with that."
K-State Fall Invite
Mike Goss Tennis Stadium
October 31, 2020
Doubles Play
Maria Linares/Karine-Marion Job (KSU) def. Chie Kezuka/Christen Hsieh, 7-5
Anna Turco/Ioana Gheorghita (KSU) def. Maty Cancini/Ellie Murphy, 6-3
Julia Deming/Vasiliki Karvouni (KU) def. Rosanna Maffei/Manami Ukita, 6-3
Maria Linares/Karine-Marion Job (KSU) def. Maty Cancini/Ellie Murphy, 6-2
Anna Turco/Ioana Gheorghita (KSU) def. Chie Kezuka/Christen Hsieh (ISU), 6-2
Julia Deming/Vasiliki Karvouni (KU) def. Margot Decker/Manami Ukita (KSU), 6-3
Singles Play
Rosanna Maffei (KSU) def. Ellie Murphy (ISU), 6-2, 6-2
Manami Ukita (KSU) def. Maty Cancini (ISU), 6-3, 6-2
Ioana Gheorghita (KSU) def. Vasiliki Karvouni (KU), 7-5, 6-4
Julia Deming (KU) def. Anna Turco (KSU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
Chie Kezuka (ISU) def. Karine-Marion Job (KSU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Christen Hsieh (ISU) def. Margot Decker (KSU) 4-1 (retired)
Maria Linares (KSU) def. Tine-Pei Chang (ISU), 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
For the latest on K-State tennis follow @kstatesports and @KStateTEN on Twitter or K-State Women's Tennis on Facebook.
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'Cats Rack Up Eight Wins to Highlight Day Two of K-State Fall Invite - Kansas State University Athletics - K-StateSports.com
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