By Nathan Keil | Sports Editor
Baylor women’s tennis split a pair of weekend matches at the BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge over the weekend in Indian Wells, Calif.
On Friday, the Lady Bears found themselves matched up with the fourth-ranked Pepperdine Waves and fell to the defending West Coast Conference champions from Malibu 5-0.
The Waves took the doubles point by taking victories on courts one and three, 6-4 and 6-2 for an early 1-0 lead.
Pepperdine then took singles victories, beginning with a 6-1, 6-1 win on court two, followed by a 6-2, 6-2 win on court five, 6-1, 6-3 on court one and a 6-2, 6-4 win on court four.
The Waves improved to 10-1 on the season with the victory over the Lady Bears, but Baylor still holds the 6-3 all-time advantage over Pepperdine.
On Saturday, the Lady Bears responded with a 4-0 win over USC.
The Trojans got off to a good start, taking a victory in doubles on court one. However, the Lady Bears got a 6-2 victory from senior Theresa Van Zyl and freshman Giorgia Testa on court two and a 7-6 (7-5) win on court three by sophomore Angie Shakhraichuk and freshman Dominka Sujova to earn the doubles point and surge ahead of USC 1-0 heading into singles competition.
Freshman Livia Kraus collected the first singles point with a 6-2, 6-1 win on court three. Sophomore Jessica Hinojosa then put Baylor up 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 win on court five.
After dropping the opening set 6-4, Shakhraichuk responded by taking the second set 6-0 and was leading 5-1 when her opponent sophomore Angela Kulikov was forced to retire, sealing the match and the win for Baylor.
Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano said he was really impressed with how his team responded against the Trojans after the loss to Pepperdine the night before.
“It was a great team win. I’m just really proud of our ladies. They competed hard and played with a lot of passion,” Scrivano said. “We’re on the right track. It’s a process, and I really like the way our team is coming together. We’ve got a lot of tennis ahead of us, so I’m excited to see what they can do.”
No. 28 Baylor is now 9-9 on the season and returns to Waco for four straight home matches. The Lady Bears will take on Oklahoma State at 6 p.m. Friday before taking on Oklahoma at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Hurd Tennis Center.
