Preview: K-State & Kansas
3/22/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas - The 2017-18 Big 12 Conference season for the TCU women's tennis team is set to kick-off this weekend as the Horned Frogs welcome No. 31 K-State and No. 17 Kansas to the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center on March 23 and March 25, respectively.
The Frogs (9-6, 0-0 Big 12) will first take on the Wildcats (11-4, 1-1 Big 12) on Friday at 5:30 p.m., before facing off against the Jayhawks (9-4, 1-1 Big 12) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission is free to both matches and fans in attendance can enjoy free pizza courtesy of Buffalo Bros., served in between doubles and singles action.
TCU Notables
TCU has been off for 10 days after last seeing action at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla., where the team dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 3 Duke. In competition on the Bernard J. 'Tut' Bartzen Varsity Courts, the Frogs are 9-2 this season with wins in three of their last four matches played at home.
In the most recent Oracle/ITA rankings, Aleksandra Zenovka leads the way with a No. 84 ranking and is one of three players with 16 wins on the season to lead the team. Marie Norris pulls in a No. 114 singles rankings with a 14-3 mark on the season including an 8-2 record in dual matches. On the doubles side, Norris pairs with Stevie Kennedy as the duo remain undefeated on the year with a 6-0 mark. Donika Bashota and Elizabeth Kennedy hold the team's only doubles rankings at No. 71 with five wins on the year.
Scouting the Wildcats
Kansas State enters the weekend ranked No. 31 in the Oracle/ITA poll after doing 2-1 last week. The Wildcats went 1-1 in their Big 12 opening weekend with a 4-3 win over Baylor before dropping a 4-0 decision to Texas. K-State wrapped up the weekend with a 7-0 sweep of Missouri State. Three Wildcats, Maria Linares, Rosanna Mafffei and Ines Mesquita, lead the team with nine singles wins. Carolina Costamagna and Margot Decker pace the team in doubles action with 10 wins with all of them coming at the No. 1 position.
Scouting the Jayhawks
Kansas went into last weekend riding a five-match winning streak and pulled off a 4-1 win over Baylor to open Big 12 play before dropping a 4-2 decision to Texas. Sitting at No. 17 in the Oracle/ITA poll, the Jayhawks have defeated five ranked foes this season. Anastasia Rychagova leads the team with a No. 3 ranking and is 18-3 this season with 11 wins over ranked opponents and an 8-1 mark at the No. 1 position. Rychagova also pulls in a doubles ranking of No. 17 with Nina Khmelnitckaia with 15 wins this season and four over ranked opponents. Despoina Veogasari rounds out the rankings at No. 118 in singles with a team-best 19 wins this season and is currently riding a five-match winning streak.
All-Time Series Records
Friday's match will be the ninth meeting all-time between TCU and Kansas State with the Frogs undefeated in the all-time series record at 8-0. TCU has dominated the series in the majority of the matches with only two of the eight played having gone the distance with a final score of 4-3. This will be the seventh match played in Fort Worth and the sixth as conference opponents.
Sunday's match will be the eighth meeting all-time between TCU and Kansas with the Frogs holding the 6-1 advantage in the all-time series record. The Jayhawks picked up their first win in the series last year with a 4-1 victory in Lawrence, Kan., after the TCU won the first six matches dating back to 1984. This will be the fifth match played in Fort Worth and the sixth as conference opponents.
Live Results
Live video of the Kansas State and Kansas matches can be found at PlaySight.com and live scoring of the match can be found at GoFrogs.com. Final results and a recap will be available at GoFrogs.com following the completion of the competitions. In-match updates for both matches can also be found by following TCU women's tennis on twitter (@TCUWomensTennis).
Players Mentioned
