By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
No. 7 seed Baylor women’s tennis started the first round of the Big 12 Championships off strong with a 4-0 victory versus No. 10 seed Kansas State University Friday afternoon at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence, Kan.
Head coach Joey Scrivano said he was “proud of the ladies” and that the Bears (16-12) were able to play through the sharp winds present Friday morning in Kansas.
“It was a great match today,” Scrivano said. “Even with some adverse conditions, they were able to be present in the moment. When things weren’t going our way, they found themselves again and I’m just proud of their effort.”
Kansas State (2-20) only had five eligible players, so it was forced to scratch a court in both doubles and singles play. Baylor secured the doubles point once sophomore tandem Alina Shcherbinina and Brooke Thompson clinched a 6-3 decision on court No. 2.
Freshman Danielle Tuhten was given an automatic win on No. 6 due to the singles scratch, which gave the Bears a quick 2-0 advantage on the overall scoreboard. Sophomore Liubov Kostenko put Baylor one point away from winning the match with a strong 6-3, 6-3 victory on court No. 3.
Senior Isabella Harvison notched the overall match win for the Bears thanks to her 6-2, 6-3 success. Harvison earned her 15th win of the season Thursday, and she now matches Shcherbinina for most singles wins on the team.
Baylor gets right back onto the court against No. 2 seed University of Oklahoma Friday at noon at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence. The Sooners (18-8), who are the No. 14 team in the nation, defeated the Bears 6-1 on March 12 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco.
Scrivano said “tomorrow is a new day,” and the squad needs to be ready for the tough task in order to advance further in the tournament.
“The conditions will probably be similar, so it’s good that we experienced that today and we know that we can handle that,” Scrivano said. “Ultimately, we just have to get ready and put in the work to be prepared for tomorrow’s match. If we do that, good things will happen.”
