Friday, March 1
Seattle, WA
5:00 PM
University of Washington
4
vs
3
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Kansas
Photo by: Red Box Pictures
No. 22 Washington Completes Comeback Win Over No. 7 Kansas
March 01, 2019 | Women's Tennis
SEATTLE --- The No. 22 ranked Washington women's tennis team defeated No. 7 Kansas 4-3 on Friday night at Nordstrom Tennis Center. With the victory, the Huskies improved to 10-1 on the year. The Dawgs trailed 2-0 early on in the match but rallied for four singles victories to clinch the match.
"I am so proud of our team for coming together and competing the way we did tonight," said head coach Robin Stephenson. "This was the first time all season that we had lost the doubles point and I challenged them to let it go and respond the right way. We knew that we are capable of winning on every court in singles."
Kansas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as they took doubles match on Courts 2 and 3. Sophomore Vanessa Wong and freshman Zoey Weil fell to 51st ranked Rychagova/Smagina 4-6. The doubles point was clinched as 39th ranked Kansas duo Ribas/Ngounoue defeated freshman Sedona Gallagher and senior Kenadi Hance 6-1.
The 35th ranked tandem of Senior Stacey Fung and Nika Zupancic were tied 4-4 with the 3rd ranked doubles team of Koch/Khmelnitckaia when the doubles point was decided.
In singles play, the Jayhawks won the first match on Court 5, taking a 2-0 lead as Ribas defeated Gallagher 6-2, 6-4.
Down 2-0, the Huskies started their comeback as Zupancic got the Dawgs on the board with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Smagina. Zupancic is now 4-1 in dual singles matches in her freshman campaign.
Junior Natsuho Arakawa was the next Husky to be victorious as she beat Khmelnitckaia 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 to tie up the match a two points per side. Arakawa's win was her sixth of the year in singles dual matches.
Junior Katarina Kopcalic gave UW a 3-2 lead as she took down Plipuech 7-6, 2-6, 6-3. Kopcalic now holds an 8-2 record in the third spot in the lineup, as well as earning her 21st victory overall.
Wong clinched the fourth point and the match for the Dawgs 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 over 79th ranked Koch. Wong remains perfect in dual singles matches at 10-0.
In the final remaining match on Court 1, Fung fell to Rychagova in a three set battle 7-5, 4-6, 6-7.
"I am so proud of everyone on this team and how we competed," commented Kopcalic. "We talk a lot about unity and I thought we did a really good job of that today. After we lost the doubles point, we all regrouped and knew that we needed to go out swinging and that's what we did. We just had a blast out there today."
The Huskies went 10-1 over the non-conference season and will open up Pac-12 play on March 8 at Colorado.
"We knew we were going to have to earn every single point out there tonight and that it was going to be a battle until the end," continued Stephenson. "Kansas is a very good team and it took our best competitive effort to get the win. We competed our best tonight and executed when we needed to. That comes through a lot of hard work and commitment to doing the right things day in and day out. We will enjoy this win for a day or so and then get back to work for our conference opener next weekend."
Singles Results (5, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1)
1. #43 Rychagova, Anastasia (KU) def. Stacey Fung (WASH-W) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6
2. Vanessa Wong (WASH-W) def. #79 Koch, Janet (KU) 6-7, 7-6, 6-2
3. Katarina Kopcalic (WASH-W) def. Plipuech, Ploburng (KU) 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
4. Natsuho Arakawa (WASH-W) def. Khmelnitckaia, Nina (KU) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
5. Ribas, Maria Toran (KU) def. Sedona Gallagher (WASH-W) 6-2, 6-4
6. Nika Zupancic (WASH-W) def. Smagina, Sonia (KU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
Doubles Results (3, 2)
1. #35 Stacey Fung/Nika Zupancic (WASH-W) vs. #3 Koch, Janet/Khmelnitckaia, Nina (KU) 4-4, unfinished
2. #51 Rychagova, Anastasia/Smagina, Sonia (KU) def. Vanessa Wong/Zoey Weil (WASH-W) 6-4
3. #39 Ribas, Maria Toran/Ngounoue, Malkia (KU) def. Sedona Gallagher/Kenadi Hance (WASH-W) 6-1
Check back at GoHuskies.com for more updates on the Husky women's tennis team, and follow the Huskies on Twitter @UW_WTennis, on Instagram @uw_wtennis and on Facebook at Washington Husky Women's Tennis.
"I am so proud of our team for coming together and competing the way we did tonight," said head coach Robin Stephenson. "This was the first time all season that we had lost the doubles point and I challenged them to let it go and respond the right way. We knew that we are capable of winning on every court in singles."
Kansas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as they took doubles match on Courts 2 and 3. Sophomore Vanessa Wong and freshman Zoey Weil fell to 51st ranked Rychagova/Smagina 4-6. The doubles point was clinched as 39th ranked Kansas duo Ribas/Ngounoue defeated freshman Sedona Gallagher and senior Kenadi Hance 6-1.
The 35th ranked tandem of Senior Stacey Fung and Nika Zupancic were tied 4-4 with the 3rd ranked doubles team of Koch/Khmelnitckaia when the doubles point was decided.
In singles play, the Jayhawks won the first match on Court 5, taking a 2-0 lead as Ribas defeated Gallagher 6-2, 6-4.
Down 2-0, the Huskies started their comeback as Zupancic got the Dawgs on the board with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Smagina. Zupancic is now 4-1 in dual singles matches in her freshman campaign.
Junior Natsuho Arakawa was the next Husky to be victorious as she beat Khmelnitckaia 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 to tie up the match a two points per side. Arakawa's win was her sixth of the year in singles dual matches.
Junior Katarina Kopcalic gave UW a 3-2 lead as she took down Plipuech 7-6, 2-6, 6-3. Kopcalic now holds an 8-2 record in the third spot in the lineup, as well as earning her 21st victory overall.
Wong clinched the fourth point and the match for the Dawgs 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 over 79th ranked Koch. Wong remains perfect in dual singles matches at 10-0.
In the final remaining match on Court 1, Fung fell to Rychagova in a three set battle 7-5, 4-6, 6-7.
"I am so proud of everyone on this team and how we competed," commented Kopcalic. "We talk a lot about unity and I thought we did a really good job of that today. After we lost the doubles point, we all regrouped and knew that we needed to go out swinging and that's what we did. We just had a blast out there today."
The Huskies went 10-1 over the non-conference season and will open up Pac-12 play on March 8 at Colorado.
"We knew we were going to have to earn every single point out there tonight and that it was going to be a battle until the end," continued Stephenson. "Kansas is a very good team and it took our best competitive effort to get the win. We competed our best tonight and executed when we needed to. That comes through a lot of hard work and commitment to doing the right things day in and day out. We will enjoy this win for a day or so and then get back to work for our conference opener next weekend."
Singles Results (5, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1)
1. #43 Rychagova, Anastasia (KU) def. Stacey Fung (WASH-W) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6
2. Vanessa Wong (WASH-W) def. #79 Koch, Janet (KU) 6-7, 7-6, 6-2
3. Katarina Kopcalic (WASH-W) def. Plipuech, Ploburng (KU) 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
4. Natsuho Arakawa (WASH-W) def. Khmelnitckaia, Nina (KU) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
5. Ribas, Maria Toran (KU) def. Sedona Gallagher (WASH-W) 6-2, 6-4
6. Nika Zupancic (WASH-W) def. Smagina, Sonia (KU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
Doubles Results (3, 2)
1. #35 Stacey Fung/Nika Zupancic (WASH-W) vs. #3 Koch, Janet/Khmelnitckaia, Nina (KU) 4-4, unfinished
2. #51 Rychagova, Anastasia/Smagina, Sonia (KU) def. Vanessa Wong/Zoey Weil (WASH-W) 6-4
3. #39 Ribas, Maria Toran/Ngounoue, Malkia (KU) def. Sedona Gallagher/Kenadi Hance (WASH-W) 6-1
Check back at GoHuskies.com for more updates on the Husky women's tennis team, and follow the Huskies on Twitter @UW_WTennis, on Instagram @uw_wtennis and on Facebook at Washington Husky Women's Tennis.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
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#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2
#1 Singles Match
123
Rychagova, Anastasia / 0 (43/-) [KU]
567
746
#2 Singles Match
123
Koch, Janet / 0 (79/-) [KU]
762
676
#3 Singles Match
123
Plipuech, Ploburng / 0 [KU]
663
726
#4 Singles Match
123
Khmelnitckaia, Nina / 0 [KU]
735
567
#5 Singles Match
12
Ribas, Maria Toran / 0 [KU]
66
24
#6 Singles Match
123
Smagina, Sonia / 0 [KU]
563
726
Order of Finish:
5,6,4,3,2,1
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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