By DJ Ramirez | Sports Editor
With a 4-3 victory over TCU in a non-conference matchup Thursday at the Hurd Tennis Center, No. 15 women’s tennis completed its seventh straight win, moving on to an 11-1 record so far this season.
Fourth-year junior Livia Kraus is undefeated on the singles court this spring, taking a 9-0 record with a 6-3, 6-2 win over TCU’s Isabel Pascual on court four to clinch the match for the Bears. It was Kraus’s 70th win in a Baylor uniform.
“We know that TCU came out here to fight, and they wanted to leave it all here on the court,” Kraus told Baylor Athletics after the match. “In the end, that’s what we want if we want to get better. We need to have tight matches, good matches, and that’s exactly what we got today.”
Baylor took an early advantage on the doubles court when Audrey Boch-Collins and Angelina Shakhraichuk grabbed a 6-1 win over the Horned Frogs’ Marie Norris and Addy Guevara on court two. Kris Sorokolet and Jessica Hinojosa gave the Bears the doubles point with a 6-0 win over Stevie Kennedy and Margaret Polk on court three.
The bottom half of the lineup got to work quickly, adding the next two Baylor points on courts six and five. Head coach Joey Scrivano said they brought great focus and energy to the match.
“They dug down deep and found their best tennis,” Scrivano said. “There’s not a lot of difference between playing really well and dominating a position and struggling and maybe losing in a breaker. This match is going to provide us a lot of opportunities to reflect and get better for the next one.”
Adding to her winning streak on the singles court, which dates back to last year, junior Paula Barañano picked up her 25th career singles win on court six for Baylor’s second point of the day. Barañano defeated Polk, a clean 6-0, 6-0.
Shakhraichuk, now tied for the team lead with nine dual-match wins, grabbed point three with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Guevara on court five. Junior Mel Krywoj fell on the top court to Mercedes Aristegui 2-6, 1-6 to put TCU on the board. Kraus then gave Baylor the match. The Horned Frogs managed to pick up two points as the final two singles matches played on.
Baylor will get the chance to avenge its only loss of the spring when No. 2 Texas makes the trip up for a 1 p.m. match Saturday at the Hurd.
