Kansas State tennis split a pair of Big 12 matchups on the road over the weekend, narrowly defeating Colorado before falling to a ranked Texas Tech squad.
On March 6, in Boulder, the Wildcats edged the Buffaloes 4-3 at the Meadows Club to secure their first conference road victory of the season. K-State improved to 5-4 overall with a 2-1 record in Big 12 play while Colorado dropped to 9-4 and 1-2 in the conference. This was also the Wildcat’s first victory against the Buffaloes since 2018.
The tandem of junior Maragloo Chogsomjav and freshman Martaa Chogsomjav gained early momentum for K-State. The pair had a 6-1 victory against Aya El Sayed and Pia Rebec at the top spot, extending their winning streak to five matches. Freshman Sasha Kyselova and sophomore Chanel Rustemova added a 6-4 win in the No. 3 position to clinch the point.
In singles play, the Wildcats secured three wins to seal the match. Kyselova defeated Rebec 6-4, 6-1 for her first conference singles victory. Varvara Bernovich followed with a straight set win over Anya Nelson, 6-4, 6-3. The deciding point came from Rustemova, who beat Heidi Crncan 6-3, 6-4 to earn her first victory since mid-February.
“I’m so proud of our group tonight,” K-State head coach Jordan Smith said. “Tough playing here with the altitude and different equipment. Despite those challenges, our team continued to believe in winning, and that’s really awesome.”
However, the Wildcats were unable to carry their momentum into the matchup against Texas Tech on March 8, as K-State fell 4-0 to the No. 34 Red Raiders at McLeod Tennis Center. The purple and white moved to 5-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play, while Texas Tech improved to 12-4 and 3-1.
The way to gain control early is to sweep the doubles point, and that’s exactly what the Red Raiders did. K-State’s top duo of Maragloo and Martaa Chogsomjav fell 6-3 to the No. 55-ranked pair of Kate Dmitrichenko and Hailey Murphy.
Texas Tech then won three singles matches to clinch the victory. Murphy defeated Maragloo Chogsomjav 6-2, 6-4, and Havana Kadi topped Benovich 6-2, 6-1. Ella Brownback also took down Rustemova 6-2, 6-2.
Three other singles matches would be left unfinished. Diana Smolinska took the first set 7-5, while Kyselova forced a third set in her match after splitting the opening two sets.
K-State returns to the road once again, as the Wildcats face No. 28 Oklahoma State on March 14.
