KU tennis — for the first time in two decades — earns a berth in the Sweet 16
Three seniors were the reason Kansas’ tennis team had a chance to make program history on Saturday.
It was three underclassmen, though, that pushed the Jayhawks over that barrier in a 4-2 victory over Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
After KU won the doubles point, junior Maria Toran Ribes (No. 6), sophomore Plobrung Plipuech (No. 3) and freshman Sonia Smagina (No. 4) provided the team’s three singles wins.
“They had the seniors’ back,” KU coach Todd Chapman said. “The seniors have had their back all year, and the seniors have done such a great job of leading this team, and that’s when you know when you’re getting somewhere is when the young kids start saying, ‘OK, we can do it too,’ and respond the way they did today.
“I couldn’t be more proud of all of them.”
With the victory, the Jayhawks advanced to their first Sweet 16 since 1998.
“We knew we had a great season building up to this, so we knew we could do it,” KU senior Janet Koch said. “But with some big moments coming up, we just needed to approach it the right way, and I think in a lot of spots, we did.”
Smagina was especially resilient, rallying from down 5-1 in the first set to take a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Marlee Zein. With KU leading 3-2 in the team score, Smagina was the one who clinched the victory, roaring out in celebration as Zein’s final stroke sailed past the baseline. A few seconds later, she was mobbed by teammates.
“There for awhile we were battling emotions, but that happens with a freshman,” Chapman said of Smagina. “It’s a big match, a big situation, and she wanted to win so badly I think that sometimes it keeps you from doing the things that you want to and thinking as clearly as you need to.”
KU’s players were able to overcome some nerves. Koch admitted to feeling them during her loss at No. 2 singles, saying some forehand shanks and double faults were partly the result of anxiousness.
The roughly 500 fans, though, still had an overwhelmingly positive impact for KU, with the Jayhawks (21-4) improving to 16-0 in home matches this season.
“The energy, I just think it’s been building and building all season,” Chapman said. “I think our fans are starting to really get behind this team and see how exciting tennis can be. It’s something our players definitely feed off of.”
Added Koch: “Any team coming up here ... it’s our playground here, and they felt it for sure today.”
KU advances to a 4 p.m. Friday, May 10 super regional at Stanford (24-1), the No. 3 national seed, which beat Syracuse.
Chapman still believes his team has another level to reach.
“We believe we match up with any team in the country if we play to our abilities,” Chapman said. “We did what we did today against a great team with not everybody playing to their best. That’s exciting, when you can win tough matches and not have peaked yet.
“I still don’t believe this team has peaked.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2019 at 6:05 PM.
