By Nathan Keil | Sports Editor
Baylor women’s tennis saw its season come to an end Saturday evening against No. 12 UCLA in Los Angeles.
The Lady Bears competed, but were unable to make much ground against the Bruins, falling 4-0 in the NCAA Tournament second round.
Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano said that his team has shown great growth over the course of the season and despite the loss, is poised for a great future.
“I am proud of this team and their effort all season. Today was disappointing, but they’ve shown great resilience this season and have improved tremendously along the way,” Scrivano said. “The future is bright for this team, and I know they will be putting in the work this summer to come back even better next year.”
UCLA started off strong, flexing its muscles in the doubles competition. Junior Alaina Miller and sophomore Ena Shibahara took the first doubles set, 6-3 over sophomore Angie Shakraichuk and freshman Kristina Sorokolet.
Baylor battled back to even the doubles at 1-1 when freshmen duo of Dominka Sujova and Giorgia Testa knocked off the seventh-ranked duo of senior Terri Fleming and redshirt sophomore Jada Hart, 6-4.
With the doubles point and the early lead on the line, juniors Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield held off sophomore Jessica Hinojosa and senior Theresa Van Zyl, 6-4 to take the point and the early 1-0 lead.
UCLA claimed its first singles victory on court six when Miller defeated Shakraichuk 6-3, 6-3.
The Bruins then captured a victory on court one as No. 9 Shibahara beat Van Zyl 6-3, 6-4 in her final collegiate match.
UCLA sealed the match when freshman Abi Altick took down Hinojosa, 6-3, 6-4 on court three.
At the time the match was completed, freshman Livia Kraus and sophomore Camilla Abbate were both competing in third sets.
Kraus dropped the opening set 6-2 before claiming the second one 6-4. Abbate took the first set 6-4 and dropped the second one 6-2 and was down 1-0 in the third.
On court three, Sorokolet was down one set (6-4) with the second set tied at four games apiece.
The Lady Bears will say goodbye to just one senior, Van Zyl, who Scrivano said has been the epitome of what it means to be a part of the Baylor women’s tennis program.
“I am so thankful for Theresa’s contributions to the program over the last four years. She’s been a pleasure to coach and will continue to be a great ambassador for Baylor University and our tennis program,” Scrivano said.
Baylor finishes the season 18-14 overall.
