KANSAS CITY, Missouri – South Dakota women's tennis fell in its Summit League opener on Saturday, 4-3, to Kansas City in a match played indoors at the Woodside Tennis Center.
 
The Coyotes (2-5) won the doubles point, taking two of the three matches to begin the match, but could only claim two of the six singles matches, thus dropping the dual.
 
"This was a tough match between two good teams," coach Brett Barnett said. "We knew this would be tight and it's never easy to beat Kansas City on the road. 
 
"Ideal start for us pulling out a tight doubles point but we couldn't find that 4th point."
 
Natka Kmoskova and Habiba Aly teamed for an easy 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles and Anna Marija Bukina and Jana Lazarevic earned a hard-fought 7-5 win at No. 1 doubles.
 
Lazarevic, a senior, moved to 4-1 on the season with a 7-6, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles over Yana Grechkina.
 
Berta Girbau, a sophomore, improved to 5-1 on the season with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles over Ana Timofeyeva.
 
"This match comes down to lost opportunities, we had some leads and couldn't close out a couple of sets that hurt us in the end.," Barnett said. "I'm proud of the fight and Berta and Jana again stepped up and delivered. 
 
"We need to get better going forward and improve some positions in the lineup."
 
South Dakota will return to the courts when it hosts Creighton in its home opener on March 31.