No. 8 WT Falls to No. 2 Texas in Big 12 Title Match, 4-0

Sunday, April 25

Waco, Texas

1 p.m.

Baylor

Texas

No. 8 WT Falls to No. 2 Texas in Big 12 Title Match, 4-0

4/25/2021 7:50:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Bears await seeding for upcoming NCAA Tournament

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Other than an early break at No. 2 doubles and maybe Mel Krywoj blitzing through the first set at No. 1 singles, eighth-ranked Baylor never made No. 2 Texas uncomfortable in Sunday's Big 12 Championship final at the Hurd Tennis Center.
            After taking the opening doubles point, the Longhorns (25-1) won five of the six first sets in singles and swept the bottom half of the lineup in straight sets to hand the Bears (22-4) a 4-0 loss on their home courts.
            "We definitely needed to start off better," said Baylor coach Joey Scrivano, whose team was playing in its first Big 12 Tournament final since winning it in 2015. "They're a national championship-caliber team, so when they have a lead, it's a real challenge. We just needed to settle in a little sooner. I would say that was a theme, we just didn't settle in quick enough."
            Starting with a comeback at No. 2 doubles, where the Longhorns' Anna Turati and Fernanda Labrana took the last five games to clinch the doubles point with a 6-4 win over Jessica Hinojosa and Kristina Sorokolet, Texas wasted no time settling in.
            In a battle of top-30 tandems, UT's Lulu Sun and tournament Most Outstanding Player Kylie Collins knocked off Baylor's Krywoj and Angie Shakhraichuk, 6-3, at No. 1. At No. 3, Audrey Boch-Collins and Alicia Herrero Linana took 42^nd-ranked Peyton Stearns and Charlotte Chavatipon to a tiebreaker before the doubles point was decided.
            "They're really good," Scrivano said. "And when you combine that with us not finding our ideal performance state, that's tough. We need them to have a little bit of an off day, and we have to have a really good day, which is possible. . . . if we see them again, we're going to do everything we can to make them play a little worse and us play a little better. Everything is on the table for us."
            Krywoj was Baylor's lone bright spot early in singles, taking a first set off the 28^th-ranked Stearns, 6-1. The other five players combined to win just nine games in the first set.
            Herrero Linana fought back to take the second set from the 68^th-ranked Sun, 6-3, and was down a break, 3-1, in the third set when the match was decided.
            "Allie has grown so much mentally. She can turn a bad day into a good day," Scrivano said. "She was just not accepting that she was going to go down. She was going to go down swinging. That's just a credit to her mental game and just how much she's improved there."
            Stearns flipped the switch on Krywoj, winning the second set, 6-0, and was up a break at 3-2 in the third.
            Texas didn't lose a set at the other four positions, closing it out with straight-set wins at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles. Shakhraichuk and Paula Baranano lost to Chavatipon and Collins, respectively, and then Malaika Rappolu clinched it with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Sorokolet, who struggled holding her serve.
            "The serve is so important. When you don't have it, that makes it a tougher sport," Scrivano said. "You've got to grind more points down, and you've got to hope that your opponent doesn't serve well. Just off of serve and return, you could lose a match. That was unfortunate, because Kris has been so good for us this entire year. She's been incredible for us this year and shell help us in the postseason."
            NCAA team selections will be announced at 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 3, via web stream at ncaa.com, with the individual singles and doubles selections released the next day.
            "They handled a lot this year," Scrivano said, "but this really started for them in 2019 when we were coming off a really difficult year with injuries and not enough scholarship players. That was tough. But, we went through '19, then we went through COVID in '20. So, this was a two-year wait for this group to get to this point today. I'm just so proud of them, because they've handled it so well."

WACO, Texas. – The No. 8-ranked Baylor Bears fought their way back to the Big 12 Championship title match for the first time since 2015 Sunday, however, the No. 2-ranked Longhorns took home the crown at the Hurd Tennis Center with a 4-0 victory.

The loss dropped Baylor to 23-4 on the season while the Longhorns improved to 25-1. The Bears' only four losses this season have come at the hands of the Longhorns and Baylor's 23 victories are the most since winning 28 in 2015.

In doubles, Audrey Boch-Collins and Alicia Herrero Linana were batting No. 42-ranked Peyton Stearns and Charlotte Chavatipon, but at 6-6, the Bears couldn't quite score the point before Texas took the doubles point with wins on No. 1 and No. 2.

The Longhorns took points two through four on courts No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 respectively in straight sets for the win.

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Joey Scrivano on doubles …
"They settled in a little quicker than we did. They were able to just kind of get loose and start hitting freely just a little sooner than we did. And, in doubles, it's so short, that can be the difference.

Scrivano on singles play …
"That's the challenging part. When you have to respond after losing the doubles point. It's just not easy. You really have to build your confidence and get ready for an uphill battle. This team has done that incredibly well all year long, but Texas is a really good team. They're a national championship caliber team. So, when they have the lead, it's a real, real challenge. We just needed to settle in a little sooner.

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will await the selection of the NCAA Committee for its seeding in the upcoming Tournament. Selection Monday is May 3 at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.