The Kansas State women’s tennis team earned its first Big 12 conference win of the season with a 4-1 victory over West Virginia on Sunday at the Peakform Sports and Wellness Center in Manhattan, Kansas. The Wildcats improved their overall record to 4-4 and are now 1-1 in conference play, while West Virginia dropped to 6-3 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12.
K-State secured the doubles point for the fifth time this season, giving them an early advantage. The No. 1 doubles pair, Maralgoo Chogsomjav and Martaa Chogsomjav—ranked #55 nationally—defeated Julie Bousseau and Zuzana Kudlackova with a score of 6-1. In the No. 2 position, freshmen Varvara Bernovich and Diana Smolinska overcame Lyla Byers and Audrey Moutama, winning 7-5 after narrowly losing their previous match against Cincinnati.
The Wildcats carried their momentum into singles play. Maralgoo Chogsomjav won her match at the top spot against Audrey Moutama in two tiebreak sets: 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2). Martaa Chogsomjav claimed a straight-set victory over Laura V. Morillo at No. 2 singles, finishing with scores of 6-1, 6-3.
Diana Smolinska clinched the overall match for K-State by defeating Zuzana Kudlackova in three sets at No. 4 singles: she lost the first set but came back strong to win the next two sets, closing out at 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Sasha Kyselova started strong in her singles match against Julie Bousseau by taking the first set but ultimately lost in three sets: 6-0, 3-6, 3-6.
Varvara Bernovich was leading her unfinished match against Lyla Byers when play stopped at a score of 6-0, 5-2. Chanel Rustemova’s match against Lucia Tognoni was also left unfinished during a first-set tiebreaker tied at six games each.
Head Coach Jordan Smith commented on his team’s performance: “First, it’s not easy to get wins, whether in conference or out of conference, so we are happy with our bounce back. But overall, we didn’t perform to our highest this weekend, and that’s something we have to get better, and hopefully we can move forward on the road and try to get there. We know that Big 12 wins will come hard if we’re not confident and we don’t believe in ourselves, and I get this as a young team, but they have to start doing it now otherwise it won’t become easier later.”
Smith also addressed the importance of securing the doubles point: “Obviously we know what happens when you win a doubles point. It’s easier to kind of play with a lead then not and so most of our wins have been with doubles point. So you know we are proud of that but just the overall kind of confidence and playing to our level has to get better if we want to get more of these.”
K-State will begin its first Big 12 road trip starting Friday (March 6) against Colorado (9-2 overall; undefeated so far in conference) before facing Texas Tech (10-3 overall; also unbeaten in league play) on Sunday (March 8).
For more information about K-State Women’s Tennis Team visit www.kstatesports.com or follow their social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram or Facebook.
