By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – This is exactly why Cristina Tiglea was brought in as a senior transfer from Texas Tech.
 
With the match against 30^th-ranked and fifth-seeded Arizona tied at 3-3, Tiglea got a late service break and pulled out a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over the Wildcats' Midori Castillo-Meza to help the 21^st-ranked and fourth-seeded Baylor women's tennis team pull out a 4-3 win in Friday's quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship at the Hurd Tennis Center.
 
"She's a warrior," Baylor coach Joey Scrivano said, "and that's why we were really excited she became a Baylor Bear, because we knew that she could handle those types of situations. We had our foot in the trap, and we found a way to live for another day."
 
Even when she got down 3-2 and 4-3 in the third set, Tiglea said she "wasn't, honestly, nervous at all, because I knew that this match was coming to me."
 
"I always tell the girls, everyone knows that I was born for this moment," said Tiglea, who beat a ranked player for the second time in her last three matches. "Like I was saying to (associate head coach Lenka Broosova), 'This is my time, and I want to win it, because I want the team to succeed.'''
 
Baylor (20-4) advances to the semifinals to face top-seeded and 15^th-ranked Texas Tech (20-2) at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Lady Raiders defeated eighth-ranked Kansas, 4-1, part of a sweep by the top four seeds, as 17^th-ranked Oklahoma State (19-6) faces No. 22 UCF (21-2) in Friday's other semifinal.
 
"It didn't surprise me at all," Scrivano said of his team's resiliency. "But at the same time, it's very difficult to beat teams as good as Arizona . . . to beat them twice, it's really hard. We beat them (4-0) in Tucson, but the score wasn't what was going on in that match, so wee knew it was going to be really hard today. But it makes a difference when you have some dogs that keep fighting to the end."
 
Tiglea wasn't the only one that kept "fighting to the end." The Bears split two other three-setters, with senior Liubov Kostenko falling to 64^th-ranked Josie Usereau at No. 1 singles, 7-5, 1-6, 6-2, and freshman Nanaka Sato holding off Arizona's Zoya Chulak, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, at No. 6.
 
"Absolutely, that was huge," Scrivano said of Sato, who is a perfect 11-0 in dual matches. "She battled. Since we've put her in the lineup, she's been a spark for our team. She's been kind of the X-factor at that position. We're just thankful she's a Baylor Bear and she's not on another roster, because she's made a big improvement to our team down the stretch."
 
In what turned out to be a pivotal point, Baylor took control of the doubles on all three courts and closed it out with wins on the Nos. 1 and 3 courts. Sierra Berry and Zuzanna Kubacha rolled over Chulak and Belen Nevenhoven, 6-0, at No. 3, then Liubov and Kostenko clinched the point with a 6-2 win over the 44^th-ranked duo of Usereau and Danielle Tuhten at No. 1.
 
"It's just one point, but that one point made a big difference today," Scrivano said. "I was really proud of the way the team prepared for the match. But in that doubles point, we were really on top of them. We really gave them not much of an opportunity at 1 and 3 doubles, and that set the tone. And then in the end, it made the difference."
 
Needing to win four singles matches to complete the comeback, the Wildcats put themselves in position by winning four first sets and closing out straight-set wins by Martyna Ostrzygalo and Tanvi Narendran at Nos. 3 and 5 singles to knot the match at 2-2.
 
Arizona (19-10) took a 3-2 lead with Usereau's three-set win over Kostenko at No. 1, but the Bears were able to pull through with the wins by Sato and Tiglea to clinch their third 4-3 victory of the season.
 
Just 12 days ago, Tiglea also got the clincher in a 4-3 win over Arizona State, upsetting 42^nd-ranked Emilja Tverijonaite, 6-7,(8), 7-6(3), 6-4.
 
"It was unbelievable. I've never experienced anything like this," Tiglea said. "Especially (because) I want to go pro, and if I want to go pro – I don't know, I love this feeling and (the) emotions and the crowd being with me. It gave me so much energy. It was amazing."
 
Now, the Bears will face Tiglea's former teammates at Texas Tech in the semifinals. Last month, Baylor lost to the Lady Raiders, 4-2, in Waco, getting straight-set wins at Nos. 1 and 3.
 
"We are not done yet," she said. "Tomorrow, we have Texas Tech, my previous team. I know last month, it wasn't easy for me. But now, I told myself, it's time to move on. I still respect them a lot, but we both want to win the title. And we're just going to go there and win it. That's the mentality."



WACO, Texas – No. 21 Baylor women's tennis is headed into the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship after a hard-fought 4-3 victory against No. 30 Arizona on Friday afternoon at the Hurd Tennis Center.
 
Baylor (20-4, 10-3 Big 12) earned the doubles point and picked up wins on Courts Four, Six and Two to advance into Day Three of the tournament.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Starting off in doubles, the Bears wasted no time getting to work. On Court Three the duo of Sierra Berry and Zuzanna Kubacha earned a bagel, 6-0, victory against Belen Nevehoven and Zoya Chulak.
 
In a ranked contest on Court One, the 31^st-ranked Liubov Kostenko and Cristina Tiglea picked up the 6-2 dub over No. 44 Danielle Tuhten and Josie Usereau to give BU the early lead and momentum heading into singles at 1-0.
 
Moving into singles, junior Na Dong kept Baylor in the lead with a, 6-4, 6-3, win over former Bear, Tuhten. However, the Wildcats quickly responded quickly by taking Courts Five and Three 6-4, 6-4 and 6-4, 6-3, respectively, to tie up the match at two a-piece.
 
Kostenko fell in her first set, 7-5, against No. 64 Usereau, before dominating in the second set, 6-1. Kostenko could not complete the comeback, falling in the third set 6-2, allowing U-of-A to take the lead for the first time.
 
On Court Six, freshman Nanaka Sato won her first set at 6-3 before falling in her second set 6-4. Going into set three, Sato was able to claim a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory to tie up the match at 3-all with the deciding point being left to Court Two.
 
Tiglea fell in her first set at 6-3. However, she took control in the second set with a 6-2 victory to force a third set. In a very back-and-forth set, Tiglea triumphed over No. 95 Midori Castillo-Meza with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win to clinch the match for the Bears and advance to the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor faces off against the No. 1-seeded Texas Tech in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship Saturday at 10 a.m.