MANHATTAN, Kan. Kansas State’s Antea Huljev and Viviana Yrureta earned wins in doubles and singles play but it wasn’t enough to fend off the Kansas Jayhawks in a Big 12 opening, 4-3, loss at Ahearn Fieldhouse on Wednesday.

The five hour and 40 minute match saw plenty of momentum swings and lead changes but Kansas took the victory when Loren Hommel topped K-State’s Olga Klimova in three sets to break a 3-3 tie at No. 6 singles.

K-State (4-4, 0-1) opened the match by taking two of three from the Jayhawks in doubles en route to securing the doubles point and a 1-0 lead. Olga Klimova and Katerina Kudlackova topped Kansas’ Elizaveta Avdeeva and Edina Horvath at No. 1 doubles, but the Jayhawks countered with a win at No. 3. Yrureta and Huljev, K-State’s No. 2 doubles pair, won six straight games and erased a 3-0 deficit while securing the point for the Wildcats with an 8-5 win over Kunigunda Dorn and Lauren Hommell.  

Kansas (4-5, 1-0) seemed unfazed by the early deficit and jumped out to early leads in each of the first three singles matches. Horvath evened the score when she dismissed K-State’s Vanessa Cottin in straight sets at No. 3 singles and the Jayhawks took a 2-1 advantage when Avdeeva topped Kudlackova in straight sets at No. 2.

“We got completely outplayed at the beginning of singles,” K-State head coach Steve Bietau said. “I don’t think that was the determining factor in the match. I think the determining factor in the match was that we got outplayed in the singles overall. I thought KU’s team was a little more clear about what they wanted to do, what their game plan was. They just did it, come hell or high water, and we had too many spots in our lineup where we weren’t clear about what we were going to do.”

Huljev knotted the match up with a straight set win over Dorn at No. 4 and Yrureta fended off two match points while rallying for a three-set win over Magdalena Tokarczyk at No. 1.

Up 3-2, Kansas State needed one win in the final two singles matches but the Wildcats’ Natasha Vieira was defeated in straight sets by Yuliana Svistun at No. 5 before Klimova was outlasted by Hommell.

“I definitely don’t feel like we played bad, I just know we didn’t play good enough to win,” Bietau said.

The win snaps a three-match winning streak by the Wildcats and Kansas State had won six of the last eight meetings. Kansas State welcomes New Mexico for an 11 a.m. match on Saturday before resuming Big 12 Conference competition on the road next weekend at Missouri and Colorado.

Kansas State vs. Kansas

Ahearn Field House

Manhattan, Kan. 3.5.08

Singles
1. Viviana Yrureta (KSU) def. Magdalena Tokarczyk (KU), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4

2. Elizaveta Avdeeva (KU) def. Katerina Kudlackova (KSU), 6-2, 6-2

3. Edina Horvath (KU) def. Vanessa Cottin (KSU), 6-2, 6-0

4. Antea Huljev (KSU) def. Kunigunda Dorn (KU) 6-4, 6-3

5. Yuliana Svistun (KU) def. Natasha Vieira (KSU), 6-3, 6-4

6. Lauren Hommell (KU) def. Olga Klimova (KSU), 5-7, 6-4, 6-2

Order of Completion: 3, 2, 4, 1, 5, 6

Doubles
1. Olga Klimova/Katerina Kudlackova (KSU) def.  Elizaveta Avdeeva/Edina Horvath (KU), 8-3

2. Antea Huljev/Viviana Yrureta (KSU) def. Kunigunda Dorn/Lauren Hommell (KU), 8-5

3. Yuliana Svistun/Magdalena Tokarczyk (KU) def. Vanessa Cottin/Pauline Guemas (KSU), 8-3

Order of Completion: 1, 3, 2