Jayhawks Fall to No. 21 Texas A&M in Season Finale, 7-0
<?xml:namespace prefix="st1″ ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>LAWRENCE, Kan. — The University of Kansas was defeated in its regular season finale on Sunday by No. 21 Texas A&M, 7-0. KU concludes the regular season with a record of 4-16, 2-9 in the Big 12.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
The Jayhawks will open up play in the Big 12 Championships at 1:30 on Thursday in Kansas City at the PlazaTennisCenter, where they will compete as the No. 11 seed.
The highlight of Sunday's contest came from KU's No. 2 doubles tandem of junior Lauren Hommell and freshman Kunigunda Dorn, who became the first Jayhawk duo to pick up a win over a ranked opponent this spring. Hommell and Dorn, who just recently began playing together, defeated Texas A&M's 28th-ranked tandem of Anna Lubinksy and Nicki Mechem, 8-7 (3). The win was the duo's third in its last four outings, and evened its conference mark at 3-3.
However, A&M took the other two doubles matches, as well as all six singles contests, to record the sweep.
Kansas got a strong performance in the No. 2 singles matchup from junior Edina Horvath, who, after dropping the first set to A&M's 113th-ranked Elze Potgieter, came back to win the second in convincing fashion, 6-2. Horvath competed hard in the third set as well, but eventually fell, 6-4.
Junior Stephanie Smith also had a solid outing for the Jayhawks, taking the No. 6 contest to three sets, but eventually coming up short, 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (9).
Despite Kansas' 11th-place league finish, the Jayhawks have played better down the stretch and hope the trend continues into the Big 12 Championships. Oklahoma needed a furious comeback to dispatch of KU in Norman last Wednesday, and the Jayhawks, in spite of the lopsided score, competed well against a powerful Texas A&M squad on Sunday.
The Big 12 Championships open on Thursday in Kansas City with women's first round action scheduled to run all day. The first two matches are set to get underway at 10 a.m. For more information about the event, click here.
1) #24 Anna Lubinsky (A&M) def. Elizaveta Avdeeva (KU), 6-1, 7-5
2) #113 Elze Potgieter (A&M) def. Edina Horvath (KU), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
3) Anna Blagodarova (A&M) def. Kunigunda Dorn (KU), 6-4, 6-4
4) Nicki Mechem (A&M) def. Lauren Hommell (KU), 6-4, 6-1
5) Tiffany Clifford (A&M) def. Yuliana Svistun (KU), 6-3, 6-1
6) Marisa Druss (A&M def. Stephanie Smith (KU), 4-6, 6-0 1-0 (9)
1) #28 Clifford/Foster (A&M) def. Avdeeva/Horvath (KU), 8-4
2) Dorn/Hommell (KU) def. #39 Lubinsky/Mechem (A&M), 8-7 (3)
3) Blagodarova/Sammons (A&M) def. Smith/Svistun (KU), 8-4