By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
The last day of March was host to a sunny, 75-degree morning and a light breeze that floated the Bears over San Diego Tuesday morning, 4-1.
“It was a really good team win,” head coach Joey Scrivano said. “I am proud of the entire team today.”
Baylor (11-6, 6-3 Big 12) came out strong in the doubles portion of the matchup with all courts winning their first games on the day. The Court 1 pairing for the Bears got off to a dominant start, skunking San Diego (9-8, 3-0 WCC) 6-0.
Court 3 was not quite as dominant for the green and gold early on, as back-and-forth play defined the green concrete. Star senior Na Dong struggled on serves early in the set, wearing a look of frustration as she worked to control the ball.
Dong eventually found her rhythm after an emphatic ace gave her and sophomore Alian Zack a 3-2 lead. The Bears eventually won the set 6-3 despite the pair’s early frustrations.
“They came out in the doubles on fire and ready to go, and I just loved their attitude,” Scrivano said. “It’s tennis, it’s a long day at the office, so they had to maintain their focus and their energy level.”
The Court 5 pair, which began with a 3-0 lead, were swiftly stalled as San Diego mounted an impressive comeback to take the set 6-4. The Bears went 2-1 in the doubles portion of the matchup to carry a 1-0 lead into singles.
Through two games in the first sets on each court, the only Bear that didn’t lead was freshman Mu-Jie Tzeng, who faced an 0-2 deficit. The deficit did not last long, as Tzeng took her first set over Maria Shmakova 7-5.
Junior Zuzanna Kubacha was the first to finish a set in the singles portion, shutting out her opponent 6-0 on Court 2. Freshman Luna Ivkovic soon followed in a similar suit with a 6-1 gentleman’s sweep in her first set.
“I mean Zuza is so good,” Scrivano said. “She’s just so good … her and Na [Dong] are just interchangeable, they’re two of the best players in the country. [Kubacha] definitely started us off on the right foot today.”
Dong, who held a 4-0 lead in her first set, began to see similar struggles to her doubles performance as San Diego junior Charlotte Keitel began to creep back in to lead the set 5-4.
Dong battled back to push the set to a tiebreaker, which the senior would lose to chalk her first set up as a 7-6 loss.
The first Bear to wrap up was Kubacha, who completely shut out her opponent across two sets to give Baylor a 2-0 lead.
Kubacha was soon followed by Ivkovic, who claimed her second set 7-5 to take the Bears to three points on the morning.
The match was soon over as Tzeng found a 6-4 win in her second set Court 5. Tzeng’s victory lifted the Bears up 4-1, bringing the match to an early close.
“The freshmen really carried us and pushed the team over the finish line,” Scrivano said. “We needed that, and they needed it too, you know. The freshmen are a big part of what we’re doing. I’m glad to see them pull through.”
The Bears will BYU (17-4, 6-3 Big 12) at noon Thursday at the Hurd Tennis Center. The game will be streamed here.
