The No. 16 Baylor women’s tennis program fought deep into singles play, but ultimately fell to UCF, 5-2, inside Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
After the Knights took a 3-0 lead, earning the doubles point and singles wins at No. 3 and No. 5 positions, the Lady Bears began to battle back.
Freshman Livia Kraus, who is ranked 101st nationally, bested Monica Matias to secure her fourth dual match victory of the season and put Baylor on the board. Kraus won the first set handedly, 6-2, and battled through a tiebreak to win the second set, 7-6 (7-0).
Despite a hard-fought battle by Camilla Abbate, who joined Baylor in January as a sophomore transfer, at No. 2 singles, UCF’s Maria Martinez clinched the match with a 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) final victory.
Electing to play it out ahead of the match, results followed at No. 6 and No. 1 singles. UCF’s Silvia Bordes defeated freshman Giorgia Testa in a three-set battle, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Senior Theresa Van Zyl capped the action with a three-set triumph at No. 1 singles over Ksenia Kuznetsova, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
TOP QUOTES
“I’m really proud of the way our team competed. Obviously, the result isn’t where we want it to be, but the effort is there. We’ll keep getting better as the season progresses.” - Head Coach Joey Scrivano
“We have a lot of fighters on this team. The last two days has been a glimpse at what we can be. Right now, we’re going through growing pains. This is a process and I wish it was easier, but we are going through a difficult time. We play a tough schedule… and we’re just not ready yet. When we’re ready, the results will start happening.” – Head Coach Joey Scrivano
