By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
After a tough fight at the Texas Tennis Center, Baylor women’s tennis fell to No. 12 Texas 4-3 in the second round of ITA Kickoff Weekend.
While the Bears (2-1) had a tough start with doubles duo freshman Na Dong and junior Kennedy Gibbs falling in their match 6-4, the green and gold rebounded with No. 13 doubles team seniors Liubov Kostenko and Cristina Tiglea taking home a 6-4 victory, protecting the den.
Although the new pair of sophomore Zuzanna Kubacha and freshman Wenfei Yu faced early struggles, facing down a 4-2 deficit, they remained undefeated (2-0) and took home a 7-6(3) win to secure the doubles point for Baylor.
Despite the green and gold experiencing setbacks and wins alike this weekend on the court, head coach Joey Scrivano was nothing short of enthusiastic about the team’s ability to bounce back and recoup from their losses ahead of their upcoming battle against Nebraska on Friday.
“I’m proud and excited for this team,” Scrivano said. “They battled so hard today, showing their toughness, competitiveness and resilience every step of the way. These are high-character athletes who put the team first, constantly fighting for each other and pushing one another to improve. While this was a tough loss, I have no doubt we’ll respond the right way and come back even stronger.”
On court three, Baylor earned its first victory in singles with Kubacha taking home a 6-2, 6-2 win and enthusiastically taking down Texas’s No. 65 Ashton Bowers. However, on courts one, five and six, the Bears fell hard, with Texas taking the wins against Tiglea 6-3, 6-1, Gibbs 6-4, 6-4, and No. 118 Yu 6-2, 6-1 respectively.
On the rise, No. 76 Dong started off with a loss in her first set but quickly gained a victory for Baylor with a powerful 6-1 rebound in her second set. Dong was also able to gain a win for the Bears with a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, which tied the match at 3-3.
While the Bears gained momentum and kept up energy toward their fight, Kostenko won her first set on court two but unfortunately lost her second and third set against Texas’s Eszter Meri 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(6).
The Bears will be back on the home court against Nebraska (3-0) at 12 p.m. Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center.
