Baylor University Team Page
WACO, Texas - Baylor's 34th-ranked women's tennis team lost its first match in Big 12 play on Wednesday at the Hurd Tennis Center against No. 42 TCU, 4-2.
To kick off the match, BU struck first when its 29th-ranked doubles tandem of Ema Burgic and Victoria Kisialeva notched an 8-5 decision over No. 74 Millie Nichols and Olivia Smith.
TCU's Frederica Denti and Kelsey Sundaram followed up with an 8-4 victory on court 2 against Alex Clay and Jordaan Sanford.
The deciding match on court 3 was a back and forth contest. After mounting a three-set comeback to tie the match at 7-7, BU's Alex Leatu and Kiah Generette lost two sets in a row to fall 9-7 against Monika Sirilova and Gabi Barbosa.
"Every point helps, so obviously we would have liked to win the doubles," head coach Joey Scrivano said. "It would have put pressure on TCU in singles. That didn't happen, and we still had plenty of matchups that we felt like we were strong enough to win. We didn't."
In singles, Generette opened play with a straight-set 6-2, 6-1 victory over Nichols. Baylor pulled ahead 2-1 when 10th-ranked Burgic overcame No. 75 Olivia Smith 6-2, 6-3 on court 1. Burgic has now won six matches in a row to tally a 14-5 mark in dual-match play at the top of the lineup for Baylor.
"Ema and Kiah have been playing pretty well lately, but we need more positions to play better," Scrivano said. "That's just not happening."
However, the Horned Frogs would sweep the next three matches off, beginning with Sirilova's 6-2, 6-2 win against Maria Biryukova. On court 2, 120th-ranked Kisialeva was unable to pull off an upset against No. 71 Tan, and lost 6-3, 6-1. TCU would earn its final point on court 3 in a 6-1, 6-3 contest against Sanford. Leatu's match against Denti went unfinished.
"The thing is, you have to keep paying the price every day," Scrivano said. "Just because you're losing tough matches doesn't mean you stop fighting and stop putting in the work every day. There's still a lot of season left, and this is a younger team. There's a lot of tennis in front of them. We can not let one or two losses here and there really affect what you do every day."
TCU leads the all-time series 16-14. This is the first time BU has lost against TCU since 2004, snapping a seven-match win streak.
The Lady Bears will take a break from Big 12 action to face former league foe Texas A&M at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Follow @BaylorWTennis for updates throughout the season.
