The West Virginia University Tennis team battled hard on Sunday afternoon, but ultimately fell 2-4 against Kansas State at the Summit Tennis Academy in Morgantown, W. Va. Read Mountaineers tennis team falls to K-State Sunday.
For the first time since Big 12 action started, WVU (6-9, 0-4 Big 12) won a point as they took the doubles point over the Wildcats (6-5, 1-0 Big 12).
Kucharova vs. Villanueva
First up, Michaela Kucharova and Laura Villanueva Morillo took the No. 2 matchup 6-2 against the KSU tandem of Aana Garakani and Zhanel Rustemova. KSU struck back in the No. 3 slot as Veronika Kulhava and Maria Santos scored a 6-4 win over Maja Dodik and Lyla Byers. Undeterred, WVU struck back in the No. 1 singles with a point-clinching 6-4 win by Mille Haagensen and Julie Bousseau over the Kansas State top duo of Maralgoo Chomsomjav and Charlotte Keitel.
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Keitel avenged the doubles result in the No. 2 singles, as she won 6-2, 6-2 over Bousseau to tie it at 1-1. Following that, Chomsomjav put the Wildcats on top with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 victory in the No. 3 slot over Kucharova.
Haagensen
West Virginia Struck back in the No. 1 matchup, as Haagensen defeated Rustemova 7-5, 6-4, making the score a 2-2 tie. Kansas State then responded back as Santos defeated Dodik 6-4, 6-3 in the No. 4 singles to regain the lead at 3-2.
KSU then clinched victory in the No. 5 singles when Kulhava beat Villanueva Morillo.
This result moves the all-time series to 8-1-1 in Kansas State’s favor, with the lone result in West Virginia’s favor being a 4-2 win in Morgantown in March 2023.
The Mountaineers are back in action on the road in Arizona next week, as they will face Arizona State on Friday, March at 3 p.m. at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe, Ariz. Folleong that they will head to Tucson as they are set to face Arizona on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center. The Sun Devils (8-4, 3-1 Big 12) sit at fourth place in the conference, while the Wildcats (10-5, 2-1 Big 12) are in seventh.
