Washington Opens Trip With 4-1 Win at Kansas State

Friday, February 14

Manhattan, KS

12:00 PM

University of Washington

Kansas State

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

February 14, 2020 | Women's Tennis

Box Score

MANHATTAN, Kansas --- Washington opened its two-match road trip through the Sunflower State with a big 4-1 win at Kansas State on Friday afternoon.

The Huskies picked up their fourth-straight win and improve to 8-2 on the season and to 2-1 away from home. The Wildcats fall to 5-3.

"Today was a great team win," said UW Head Coach Robin Stephenson. "Kansas State is a tough team and they compete hard and we had to play well and execute on every court to get the win. We knew we needed to come out aggressively in doubles and serve and return well and we did a really good job there. And then we were able to carry that momentum into singles and get the first sets on all three courts that started."

Washington opened up the match with a solid show in doubles play to take the doubles point. Zoey Weil and Sedona Gallagher made quick work at No. 3, winning 6-2 to clinch the first match. Natsuho Arakawa and Vanessa Wong followed with a 6-3 win at No. 3.

With the indoor facility featuring just three courts, the singles matches started with No. 1-3 singles played first. Arakawa and Wong both earned wins to remain perfect in singles play in the spring. Arakawa was the first off with a 6-1, 7-5 win at No. 2 while Wong came off second with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 1.

After Kansas State took the match at No. 3 singles, the rest of the matches began. Nika Zupancic clinched the match quickly with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 5.

"I feel like there is so much to be proud of today," said Wong. "We played in a very new environment and were put in new situations, and everyone handled these challenges extremely well. With only having three matches at a time, we had so much fun supporting one another and creating this exciting atmosphere on away courts. We knew we had to take it to them, and it all started with a very solid doubles point."

"Today was so fun," said Zupancic. "We got adapted to the different circumstances really quickly. Everyone knew what they had to do, and everyone executed it perfectly. The energy was very high, and it just made you forget that we're not playing at home. I think this win was a great way to celebrate Valentines day, because we were doing what we love with the people we care about."

Washington closes out the brief road trip on Sunday, facing Kansas at 10:00 am PT.

"Really proud of the girls for the way they handled themselves today, the way they competed and the way they were able to close out their sets and matches," said Stephenson. "We are getting better each day and with each match and we are really looking forward to what's ahead for this group!"