By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Boise State upset No. 22 Baylor women’s tennis 4-3 Friday at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin, knocking out the Bears in the first round of the NCAA Team Championship tournament.
The No. 70-ranked Broncos came into the matchup on a nine-match winning streak, including a Mountain West Conference Championship. They won the doubles point and singles points on Courts One, Two and Six to secure the victory.
A strong MWC tournament performance displayed Boise State’s strength in singles. The Broncos earned four of six singles spots on the Mountain West All-Tournament Team, including Zdena Safarova, the tournament MVP. But Friday, the Broncos flipped the script, opening the match with a doubles sweep on Courts One and Three.
Safarova and Maya Dutton upset the No. 37-ranked pairing of Liubov Kostenko and Cristina Tiglea on Court One. Safarova and Dutton nearly let a 5-0 lead slip away, losing four straight, but secured a 6-4 victory.
On Court Three, Bhakti Shah and Paula Schaefer won 6-4 over Sierra Berry and Zuzanna Kubacha to secure the doubles point. Baylor’s Na Dong and Wenfei Yu led 5-4 when their match was left abandoned.
Baylor rebounded early in singles play, taking five of six opening sets. The one loss quickly turned into a sweep, as Dutta took out Kostenko on Court Two, 6-3, 6-3. Moments later, Kubacha avenged the loss with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Shah on Court Three to get the Bears on the board.
Baylor won two straight after that to take their first lead of the match. Dong won her 15th consecutive match, beating Schaefer 6-4, 6-0 on Court Four. Kennedy Gibbs swept Ari Briones on Court Five to set up match point as Courts One and Six raged on.
Safarova entered Friday undefeated in singles play since March 1. The Mountain West Tournament MVP surged on Court One to beat Tiglea, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, knotting up the match at 3-3. Soon after, Masa Viriant won a tense match on Court Six, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, to secure the Broncos’ first-round victory.
Baylor finished the season 20-6, 10-3. Friday marked its first and only loss to a team ranked outside the Top 25. The Bears will still host the NCAA Championships at the Hurd Tennis Center May 15-18.
