By AnnaGrace Hale | Sports Writer
In a weekend packed with tennis, Baylor men’s tennis found great success on the court, whereas Baylor women’s tennis frustratingly fell short. No. 9 men’s team broke down No. 1 Texas Christian University in a 5-2 win on Friday in Fort Worth, while No. 22 women’s team fell both on Friday and Sunday to No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 11 Oklahoma State respectively.
After a frustrating 4-0 loss against then-No. 5 Michigan last weekend, Baylor men’s tennis (18-2) took the court in Fort Worth seeking redemption. With TCU housing five ranked singles players along with the No. 2, 3 and 4 doubles pairings, the Bears knew the challenge was going to be difficult.
Courts two and three secured the doubles point for the green and gold, allowing Baylor to begin the singles play on the board. Junior Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and senior Matias Soto set a precedent for the rest of the match as they defeated the Frog’s No. 3 Sander Jong and Lui Maxted, 6-4. Soon after, on court one Baylor’s No. 30 fifth-year senior Sven Lah and junior Finn Bass fell 4-6 against No. 2 Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley. Court three clinched the point as sophomore and former TCU player Tadeas Paroulek and senior Adrian Boiton battled to a 6-2 victory.
The Bears continued their momentum into singles play coming in hot with a win on court four as Bass secured a point for Baylor by winning against the Frog’s No. 63 Fearnley 6-1, 6-3.
No. 15 Boitan increased his singles winning streak on court one to 13-0 as he bested No. 14 Juan Carlos Aguilar in two sets both scored 6-3.
Officially taking the match, Grassi Muzzachi defeated Tomas Jirousek 6-4, 6-1 on court six.
The rest of the match was played out with Paroulek finding a win on court five. The two matches the Frogs won took place on the final two courts, with the defeat of Baylor’s Soto and Lah, holding no effect on the outcome of the game as Baylor secured the win.
In stark contrast, Baylor women’s tennis (13-6) found little success this weekend as they lost both of their ranked matches.
“We need to respond and prepare for what’s next. That’s all we can do,” head coach Joey Scrivano said after their 5-2 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma State on Sunday.
The momentum was never in the Bears’ favor when they challenged the Cowgirls. They dropped the doubles point with No. 5 duo Mel Krywoj and Alicia Herrero losing 6-3 and Anita Sahdiieva and Ana Carmen Zamburek losing with an identical score.
The first point from the Bears came from senior Krywoj, who went 3-1 for the weekend, after winning her first set 6-2 before her opponent retired.
The second and final point was gained in the last match from freshman Anita Sahdiieva. On court five, she claimed a three set victory 6-1, 4-6, 10-8.
Playing three sets was was a common theme for the women’s team this weekend as four of the six singles matches against No. 3 Oklahoma on Friday were forced into three sets.
Although the 6-1 loss seems like a large deficit, the Bears were continuously on the brink of putting more points on the board, but ultimately fell short.
For the doubles point, Oklahoma snatched the first win on court three, 6-0. Krywoj and Herrero responded with a hard fought 7-5 win to the Sooner’s No. 4 Carmen and Ivana Corley. However, Oklahoma claimed the point on court two after Baylor freshman duo Zamburek and Sahdiieva forced a tiebreaker, losing 8-10.
The singles matches were tight. Courts three through six experienced matches that ended in three sets. Baylor prevailed in only one of those competitions where the Bears’ Krywoj defeated No. 56 Ivana Corley 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Women’s tennis looks on to their next match at noon on April 8 as they return to Waco in hopes to find a win against Kansas State University. The men’s squad has one more stop on their road trip with a match down I-35 against the University of Texas at 6 p.m. on Friday.
