The Baylor women’s tennis team began the weekend action on Friday with a 4-1 victory over Lamar University
Baylor started off the day with a victory in the doubles matches with sophomore Kiah Generette and junior Blair Shankle winning 6-1, and freshman Elizabeth Profit and freshman Karina Traxler winning 6-3.
In singles, Baylor had an excellent showing with freshman Gabriela Ferreira, junior Rhiann Newborn, and Traxler all walking away with a victory. Each won in two sets with the scores being 6-2,6-0; 6-3, 6-1; 6-1, 6-0, respectively.
The Bears’ only loss came when sophomore Vanessa Phan was overcome in two sets by scores of 6-1, 6-0.
Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano was complimentary of Lamar, but also proud of his team’s win.
“Lamar is a great program. Their kids always compete hard and they are well-coached,” said Scrivano. “It was a great opportunity for our players to be tested and I thought our team responded really well. We were really positive and really upbeat.”
The Bears continued on with another match on Friday against Oklahoma University. Baylor walked away from the Big 12 home opener with a 4-2 victory over the Sooners.
The Bears started the match off with a doubles victory. Generette and Shankle once again achieved a 6-1 victory. Next, sophomore Kelley Anderson and Profit upended the Sooners with a 7-5 victory to seal the doubles point for the Bears.
However, Oklahoma came storming back as Anderson retired on court 4 after being behind 6-0. Oklahoma then took the lead at 2-1 with a victory over Traxler in two sets by scores of 7-5, 6-0.
Despite falling behind, the Bears quickly rallied as Shankle took home a victory in two sets with scores of 6-0, 7-5.
Ferreira then soon gave the Bears the lead with a victory in three sets. After winning the first set 6-1, Ferreira then dropped the next set 1-6, only to rally in the third to win the set and the match with a score of 6-2.
Generette then gave the Bears the victory with a comeback win. Although she gave up the first set 5-7, Generette refused to give up and won the next two sets 7-5, 6-2 to give the Bears the 4-2 win.
Although tennis can be an individual sport, Scrivano cited the victory as a team win and was proud of the way the Bears fought against tough competition.
“It was a great match. Really tough,” said Scrivano. “Oklahoma came in here and fought at every position. It was a total team effort and everyone did a great job tonight.”
On Sunday, the Baylor Bears women’s tennis team fell 4-1 in a Big 12 matchup against No. 17 Oklahoma State University. The Bears are now 9-12 on the season and 2-2 in conference.
The Cowgirls took an early lead by securing the doubles point. Elizabeth Profit and Kelley Anderson were unable to secure the victory, along with Newborn and Traxler, and gave the Cowgirls the doubles point with a 6-3 loss.
However, Blair Shankle had a strong showing in singles play, giving the Bears a point with a victory. Shankle won her match in two sets with a score of 6-0 in both sets.
Despite this quick victory in singles play, the Bears could not seem to come up with another win.
Newborn lost in two sets with scores of 6-2 and 6-0 on court three. Kiah Generette was also unable to get a victory despite her efforts. Generette was also overcome in two sets with a score of 6-2 in both sets. To round out the day, Karina Traxler was defeated in two sets with scores of 6-3, 6-4.
With the three losses in singles play, the Cowgirls secured the victory.
“Oklahoma State was just too good,” said Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano. “Like I said before the match, they’ve been consistent and they have a very experienced team. They were just really good today. A lot of credit to them”
Despite the disappointing loss, Scrivano was proud of Shankle’s efforts on the day.
“Blair is a great player and she was obviously very ready to play. Blair is special and today is just another great example of how professional she is. She takes care of business,” said Scrivano.
The Bears, now 7-6 at home, will look to find a victory on the road in Fort Worth against TCU on Friday.
