By Nathan Keil | Sports Editor
Baylor women’s tennis found out firsthand how difficult it is to win on the road.
The Lady Bears dropped their first two matches of the season, falling 6-1 at No. 2 Vanderbilt on Friday and 4-1 at Kentucky on Sunday morning.
Sophomore Camilla Abbate was a bright spot for Baylor, as she was the only Lady Bear to win both of her singles matches and remain undefeated (4-0) on the season.
At the No. 4 spot, Abbate defeated Vanderbilt’s Emma Kurtz 6-4, 6-2 and Kentucky’s Diana Tkachenko 6-4, 6-3.
The Commodores got off to a quick start and never looked back against Baylor.
At the No. 1 and No. 3 spots, Vanderbilt earned 6-2 victories over sophomore Jessica Hinojosa and senior Theresa Van Zyl and Abbate and freshman Giorgia Testa to get the doubles point.
Hinjosa dropped a 6-4, 6-0 match at the No. 6 spot, freshman Livia Kraus a 6-2, 6-1 decision at the No. 5 spot. The Commodores added a 6-2, 6-3 win over freshman Kristina Sorokolet at the No.1 spot, a 6-1, 6-1 win over Van Zyl at the No. 2. Baylor sophomore Angie Shakhraichuck forced a third set at No. 3 before falling 6-4 in the final set.
Vanderbilt head coach Geoff McDonald had nothing but good things to say about Baylor, despite the lopsided loss on the scoreboard.
“Baylor is a really solid team,” Macdonald said following the match. “They’re young, and they’re going to get better.”
On Sunday, despite getting off to a better start, the day yielded similar results.
Freshman Dominika Sujova and Shakhraichuk earned a 6-3 win for Baylor at the No. 2 doubles position. However, the Lady Bears dropped a 6-3 decision at No. 1 and a 6-4 set at No. 3 to give Kentucky a 1-0 advantage.
Kentucky went up 3-0 after capturing a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2 spot and 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 position before Abbate broke through for Baylor to put the Lady Bears on the board.
Shortly after, the Wildcats finished off Baylor with a 6-4, 7-5 victory at the No. 3 spot to earn the 4-1 win.
The Lady Bears (2-2) will return home for two matches this weekend, beginning with Tulsa at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and the University of Central Florida at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Hurd Tennis Center.
