Tuesday, November 19
Waco, Texas
Baylor
vs
NCAA Individual Championships
WT’s Kostenko, Tiglea Ready for NCAA Doubles Championship
11/19/2024 6:37:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Bears open NCAA Championship from Hurd Tennis Center Wednesday
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – While Texas Tech transfer Cristina Tiglea has only been in Waco for a few months, Baylor women's tennis coach Joey Scrivano says it feels like "she's been a Baylor Bear for a long time."
"Cristina has brought a lot of passion and fire," Scrivano said of Tiglea, who will play with fellow senior Liubov Kostenko in doubles for the NCAA Individual Championships that began Tuesday with singles. "We just appreciate that she gets the 'we over me.' She understands that, she lives that. And Luba as well. Luba has just grown so much during her time here. We're happy that the fruits of her labor are paying off and she's able to compete at this level. She deserves it."
Tiglea and Kostenko, one of the 5-8 seeds for the 32-team doubles draw, will face USC's Grace Piper and Lily Fairclough at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the opening round of the tournament.
"It's such a great opportunity," who qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship last spring at Tech. "I always wanted to play here at Baylor, and I think it's good not only for us, but also for our tennis program. This is not only about us, it's for Joey, Lenka (Broosova) and Patricia (Martins), because they put so much passion into every day for us."
Even as the host school, the Baylor women were on the outside looking in until Tiglea and Kostenko won the ITA Sectionals last week in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their ticket already punched by reaching the finals, the Baylor duo beat Michigan's Lily Jones and Jessica Bernales, 8-3, to win the ITA Midwest Regional title.
"Each set, they just started getting a better understanding of how to play together, what to do from a chemistry standpoint," Scrivano said. "And then strategically, they just kept improving. Their understanding of doubles just kept getting better and better, and it came at a great time."
Kostenko and Tiglea had not played together – "I don't even think they had practiced together," Scrivano said – until right before the sectional tournament.
"We got into a situation where it was like, who could qualify for sectionals?" Scrivano said. "And once we figured out that that was our best option, we put them together, and the rest is history. The thing about doubles is, part of it is chemistry, but the majority of it is just really understanding that you've got to make your partner better. You have to set each other up and play like a team."
While the result might have been surprising, Kostenko said, "Once we played together in sectionals, we were like, 'We just have to go for it.'''
"I think we just have to believe in ourselves and stick to everything we've been doing," said Kostenko, who clinched a 4-3 win over SMU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament two years ago.
Tiglea said it was "more challenging to get into the tournament" with the switch from the spring format to the fall, "but we proved that we deserve to be here."
Live scoring and tournament updates are available at https://baylorbears.com/feature/NCAATennis2425.
WACO, Texas – Baylor women's tennis seniors Liubov Kostenko and Cristina Tiglea will start the doubles draw in the NCAA Individual Championships on Wednesday, with a first serve time 3:30 p.m. CT in the afternoon. The pair, seeded No. 5-8, begin round one against USC's Lily Fairclough and Grace Piper.
The individual championships, held separately from the spring team championships for the first of two years in a pilot program, are streaming live on ESPN+ with commentary from Cracked Racquets. Action continues at the Hurd Wednesday morning after singles began on Tuesday. Each draw will advance one round per day, culminating in the crowning of champions on Sunday, November 24th.
The Bears have had one NCAA Champion in 2004, as the Bears' Zuzana Zemenova and Benedikt Dorsch swept the individual singles titles in 2005.
Full information for the tournament is available at BaylorBears.com.
Tickets are still available through the Baylor athletics ticket office.
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – While Texas Tech transfer Cristina Tiglea has only been in Waco for a few months, Baylor women's tennis coach Joey Scrivano says it feels like "she's been a Baylor Bear for a long time."
"Cristina has brought a lot of passion and fire," Scrivano said of Tiglea, who will play with fellow senior Liubov Kostenko in doubles for the NCAA Individual Championships that began Tuesday with singles. "We just appreciate that she gets the 'we over me.' She understands that, she lives that. And Luba as well. Luba has just grown so much during her time here. We're happy that the fruits of her labor are paying off and she's able to compete at this level. She deserves it."
Tiglea and Kostenko, one of the 5-8 seeds for the 32-team doubles draw, will face USC's Grace Piper and Lily Fairclough at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the opening round of the tournament.
"It's such a great opportunity," who qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship last spring at Tech. "I always wanted to play here at Baylor, and I think it's good not only for us, but also for our tennis program. This is not only about us, it's for Joey, Lenka (Broosova) and Patricia (Martins), because they put so much passion into every day for us."
Even as the host school, the Baylor women were on the outside looking in until Tiglea and Kostenko won the ITA Sectionals last week in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their ticket already punched by reaching the finals, the Baylor duo beat Michigan's Lily Jones and Jessica Bernales, 8-3, to win the ITA Midwest Regional title.
"Each set, they just started getting a better understanding of how to play together, what to do from a chemistry standpoint," Scrivano said. "And then strategically, they just kept improving. Their understanding of doubles just kept getting better and better, and it came at a great time."
Kostenko and Tiglea had not played together – "I don't even think they had practiced together," Scrivano said – until right before the sectional tournament.
"We got into a situation where it was like, who could qualify for sectionals?" Scrivano said. "And once we figured out that that was our best option, we put them together, and the rest is history. The thing about doubles is, part of it is chemistry, but the majority of it is just really understanding that you've got to make your partner better. You have to set each other up and play like a team."
While the result might have been surprising, Kostenko said, "Once we played together in sectionals, we were like, 'We just have to go for it.'''
"I think we just have to believe in ourselves and stick to everything we've been doing," said Kostenko, who clinched a 4-3 win over SMU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament two years ago.
Tiglea said it was "more challenging to get into the tournament" with the switch from the spring format to the fall, "but we proved that we deserve to be here."
Live scoring and tournament updates are available at https://baylorbears.com/feature/NCAATennis2425.
WACO, Texas – Baylor women's tennis seniors Liubov Kostenko and Cristina Tiglea will start the doubles draw in the NCAA Individual Championships on Wednesday, with a first serve time 3:30 p.m. CT in the afternoon. The pair, seeded No. 5-8, begin round one against USC's Lily Fairclough and Grace Piper.
The individual championships, held separately from the spring team championships for the first of two years in a pilot program, are streaming live on ESPN+ with commentary from Cracked Racquets. Action continues at the Hurd Wednesday morning after singles began on Tuesday. Each draw will advance one round per day, culminating in the crowning of champions on Sunday, November 24th.
The Bears have had one NCAA Champion in 2004, as the Bears' Zuzana Zemenova and Benedikt Dorsch swept the individual singles titles in 2005.
Full information for the tournament is available at BaylorBears.com.
Tickets are still available through the Baylor athletics ticket office.
- BaylorBears.com -
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