North Texas Tennis Falters In 6-1 Loss To Kansas State
Mean Green Drops First Dual Away From Denton In Spring Season
Freshman Tamuna Kutubidze was the only Mean Green player to pick up a win on Saturday. (Photo by Rick Yeatts)
PULLMAN, Wash. — The North Texas tennis team struggled to capture any sort of momentum on Saturday as the Mean Green eventually fell to Kansas State, 6-1, in a neutral contest from the Evergreen State. North Texas dropped each doubles match and all but one singles contest.
“Kansas State took it to us from the get-go,” head coach Sujay Lama said following the match. “We did not play and compete at the level we are capable of and we are not happy about it. We need to come out tomorrow with more energy and fire.”
The day got off to a rocky start in doubles play. At the No. 1 spot, the freshmen duo of Maria Kononova and Tamuna Kutubidze battled before dropping a 6-3 decision to Carolina Costamagna and Millie Stretton. In similar fashion, the tandem of Minying Liang and Laura Arciniegas fell, 6-4. A match featuring Agustina Valenzuela and Anastasiya Shestakova went unfinished.
Singles action began as North Texas would’ve hoped, with Kutubidze evening the match at 1-1 thanks to a speedy 6-2, 6-2 singles victory over Wildcat Iva Bago. The win gave the Tbilisi, Georgia, native a team-best 2-0 mark in dual singles matches this spring.
Unfortunately, it was the lone bright spot for the remainder of the Mean Green’s afternoon.
The other singles matches all went K-State’s way, including a closely-contested showdown between junior Alexis Thoma and Wildcat Livia Cirnu. In the only three-setter of the day, Cirnu got the best of Thoma en route to a 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 win.
The Mean Green will have a chance for a quick turnaround as the team will take on the Cougars of Washington State at 2 p.m. on Sunday from the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse.
Results
Singles
No. 1 Kononova falls to Sara Castellano; 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 Shestakova falls to Ana Garcia Navas; 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 Liang falls to Carolina Costamagna; 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 Kutubidze def. Iva Bago; 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 Thoma falls to Livia Cirnu; 6-4, 5-7, 10-7
No. 6 Valenzuela falls to Millie Stretton; 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 Kononova/Kutubidze falls to Costamagna/Stretton, 6-3
No. 2 Liang/Arciniegas falls to Garcia Navas/Bago, 6-4
No. 3 Valenzuela/Shestakova vs. Castellano/Panaite; 5-5 (DNF)
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