Ryan Hannegan
Reporter
The Baylor women’s tennis team played three matches over the break, losing two of three against No. 3 UCLA, No. 10 USC and No. 15 Miami.
In the first match, the Lady Bears fell 4-1 to UCLA at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Jordan Sanford secured a 6-3, 6-2 upset victory over No. 9 Chanelle Van Nguyen in singles action, but that was the only point the Lady Bears would claim on the day.
“Credit to UCLA,” head coach Joey Scrivano said. “They played well and competed very hard. They are a team that is going to make a deep run in the NCAA’s. I was proud of the way we competed today. We created some opportunities for ourselves with our focus and toughness.”
In doubles play, UCLA controlled the matches from the onset to claim the opening point. First, Alex Leatu and Sanford dropped an 8-1 decision to the No. 11 doubles team of Catherine Harrison and Kule McPhillips. Then the No. 42 duo of Victoria Kisialeva and Blair Shankle fell to the country’s top-ranked tandem of Robin Anderson, 6-0, 6-3, as UCLA took a 2-0 lead.
Sanford then finished off her victory to close the gap to 2-1.
However, the Bruins earned wins from No. 36 McPhillips over Kisialeva, 6-3, 6-2, before No. 19 Jennifer Brady clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-4 triumph against No. 56 Ema Burgic.
In the next match, Baylor was able to turn their fortunes around upsetting USC 4-3 at Marks Stadium.
The Lady Bears were able to notch the doubles point in the match starting off by securing the first point.
USC claimed the first doubles match as Sanford and Leatu fell to Zoe Scandalis and Gabriella DeSimone, 8-1. Playing for the first time this season at the No.2 position, Kiah Generette and Burgic clinched the point for Baylor with a 8-6 victory over Giluliana Olmos and Zoe Katz.
The Trojans finally got on the board as Burgic fell to Boren, 7-5, 7-5.
However, Generette ended any thoughts of a USC comeback as she upset No. 25 Scandalis, 6-3, 7-5, at the top of the lineup.
With the match decided, Kisialeva retired in her match against DeSimone and Alex Clay fell in three sets to Christian to bring the final tally to 4-3.
“We’re a team that is creating a strong competitive identity,” coach Scrivano said. “We embraced all the little things that make a difference. Against UCLA we had some great individual performances. Today, we did a better job of competing as a unit. It was an outstanding team effort that helped us pull through. Everyone did their part to contribute. No matter if we win or lose, we need to learn from today and bounce back for the next match.”
In the final match of the break, Baylor dropped a 4-0 decision to Miami to close out the three-match road trip at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
The Lady Bears lost the doubles point for only the fifth time this year.
The No. 34 duo of Shankle and Kisialeva lost 8-1 to No. 14 Monique Albuquerque and Clemetina Riobueno at the No. 1 spot and then Leatu and Sanford fell 8-2 to Stephanie Wagner and Lina Lilekite.
The Lady Bears never recovered in singles. Leatu was downed 6-1, 6-1 at the bottom of the lineup by Albuquerque. Generette was upset by No. 61 Wagner, 6-4, 6-2 in the No. 1 spot to push the Hurricane lead to 3-0.
To close out the contest, Alex Clay lost 6-4, 6-4 to Bolivar in the No. 5 spot.
“Credit to Miami; they flat out out-competed us,” coach Scrivano said. “Bottom line, they valued each and every point more than we did. We’re still a team that is inconsistent with all the little things, but I know we’ll learn from it and improve on it.”
