MANHATTAN, Kan. Winning all three matches in order to secure the doubles point proved to be a sign of good things to come, as the Kansas State women’s tennis team defeated Iowa State, 6-1, securing its first Big 12 Conference victory of the season Sunday afternoon at the Washburn Tennis Facility.

The Wildcats improved their record to 5-10 on the season and 1-6 in the Big 12. The No. 2 pairing of Judith Diaz and Jessica Simosa won their doubles match with a convincing 8-1 victory over Iowa State’s Beth Chermel and Danielle Uscinski. Meanwhile, the No. 3 duo of Hayley McIver and Emily Mickelson secured their second victory of the season over ISU’s Charlotte Ljungkrantz and Jill Palen, 8-5. Maria Rosenberg and Paulina Castillejos picked up their 15th victory of the season at No. 1, finishing off the doubles point with an 8-5 win.

“Our match today was one of the few times that we swept the doubles,” Head Coach Steve Bietau said. “No. 2 doubles helped us a lot and they played clean. We’ve known that when they play clean, they can be a tough team. At the No. 3 position, it was good for them to get a win. They have been playing better. Emily is getting a little more comfortable in there and she did a great job of starting and ending points today.”

In singles play, K-State won all but one match against the Cyclones (5-7, 0-5). Rosenberg, the team’s top singles ace, beat Iowa State’s Sabrina Evers, 6-3, 6-0, while Simosa claimed an impressive 6-2, 6-0 victory over Eve Soriano at the No. 2 spot. Castillejos battled for a victory at No. 3 and came out on top in three sets, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. Hayley McIver defeated Beth Chermel, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2, at the No. 4 spot and Judith Diaz claimed a No. 5 singles win over Danielle Uscinski, 7-5, 6-1.

“In singles play, Jessica got the momentum going for us and things tightened up for us as the match went on,” Bietau said. “We had a couple of matches where we split sets and the girls were able to figure out what they were doing wrong, made some corrections and came back and won. I think part of that is having some confidence in themselves to do that. The players at the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 positions did a good job of closing the match out and they won convincingly.”

The Wildcats will use Sunday’s victory to gain momentum for their next league dual match at Nebraska on Saturday, April 10 at 10 a.m. (CT) in Lincoln, Neb. K-State will then return to Manhattan for its last home match of the season against Baylor on Sunday, April 11 at 1 p.m. Senior Day festivities will begin prior to the match versus the Bears.

Kansas State 6, Iowa State 1
April 4, 2004
Washburn Tennis Facility
at Manhattan, Kan.

SINGLES
No. 1 Maria Rosenberg (Kansas State) def. Sabrina Evers (Iowa State), 6-3, 6-0.
No. 2 Jessica Simosa (Kansas State) def. Eve Soriano (Iowa State), 6-2, 6-0.
No. 3 Paulina Castillejos (Kansas State) def. Jill Palen (Iowa State), 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
No. 4  Hayley McIver (Kansas State) def. Beth Chermel (Iowa State), 2-6, 6-0, 6-2.
No. 5 Judith Diaz (Kansas State) def. Danielle Uscinski (Iowa State), 7-5, 6-1.
No. 6 Charlotte Ljungkrantz (Iowa State) def. Aveen Alkhatib (Kansas State), 6-2, 6-1.

DOUBLES
No. 1 Rosenberg/Castillejos (Kansas State) def. Evers/Soriano (Iowa State), 8-5.
No. 2 Simosa/Diaz (Kansas State) def. Chermel/Uscinski (Iowa State), 8-1.
No. 3 McIver/Mickelson (Kansas State) def. Ljungkrantz/Palen (Iowa State), 8-5.