THE ODD COUPLE
5/2/2026 12:22:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Na Dong, Kennedy Gibbs built their friendship on team trips
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – One grew up in Tianshui, China, and knew very little English when she came to Baylor as a junior transfer from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The other is a native of Houston, Texas, who played Nos. 2 and 3 singles for two years at Purdue.
But this is more of a buddy movie like Rush Hour or The Other Guys than a remake of the old TV show, The Odd Couple. Kennedy Gibbs admits that she's the messier of the two roommates and says Na Dong is "the best cook I have ever known."
"I just feel like personality-wise, we're pretty similar," said Dong, a two-time All-Big 12 first-team selection who plays No. 1 singles for the Baylor women's tennis team (13-9). The Bears will play 25th-ranked Wisconsin at 1 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Texas A&M's Mitchell Tennis Center.
"We care about others. I think that's one of the reasons we decided to be roommates. She showed up in some of my tougher moments, and so do I. That's a huge part of our friendship. Whenever someone struggles or is dealing with something, she's always there."
Baylor coach Joey Scrivano said he went against his policy of putting an older player together with a younger player, "but we were able to accommodate them when they asked to room together."
"I just felt like they were really helping each other in the right way," Scrivano said. "They bring out the best in each other, let's put it this way. They've been awesome together, for sure."
Two years ago, Na and Kennedy didn't even know each other when they both showed up on the Baylor campus as juniors. While Kennedy was moving from the Midwest to her roots in Texas, Na is more than 7,000 miles from home.
Besides being that far from home, Na had to deal with a language barrier.
"I struggled that first semester," she said. "Also, a lot of the professors talk really fast, so sometimes it's really hard to catch up."
Those struggles didn't carry over to the court, where Na was 27-3 overall, a phenomenal 21-1 in dual matches and 17-0 at the No. 4 singles spot last year, earning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors.
"She just has a professional tennis player build," Scrivano said of the 6-0 senior. "She's tall, strong, looks the part. Immediately, you could just tell that she definitely has the profile of a WTA tennis player."
While Scrivano made two trips to China and brought Na in for a recruiting visit to Waco, he said Kennedy was "one of those prospects that kind of fell through the cracks" coming out of University Prep in Houston back in 2022.
"I wish she would have recruited her from the front end, but she slipped through the cracks," Scrivano said. "I don't know if she committed early to Purdue, but we're typically more patient with our commitments. But when she came available in the transfer portal, we obviously reached out, and I felt like we were aligned pretty quickly."
On a recruiting trip to Waco, Gibbs connected with former Baylor assistant coaches Lenka Broosova and Patricia Martins and "just knew that Baylor was the choice for me."
"I was still talking to other schools," Kennedy said, "but in my heart, I had already made up my mind that Baylor was going to be the choice for me."
Na and Kennedy were paired together in doubles that first year, going 4-4 overall and 3-2 in tournaments. But the bonds of friendship were built "when we started traveling during the season, Na said.
"I think we got closer in the spring than we did in the fall," said Kennedy, who has played mostly No. 3 singles while splitting doubles with six different partners. "I just think in the spring, you spend so much time with your teammates, you naturally start to build bonds with each other. And I think Na and I just formed a special bond between us."
Moving from No. 4 to the top of the lineup this year at No. 1, Na is 12-5 overall and 10-5 at No. 1, but said she "didn't have enough confidence playing (at No. 1) because i wasn't sure if I was good enough or not."
The biggest highlight of Na's time at Baylor came earlier this year, when she was baptized at the home church in Dallas of her boyfriend, former Baylor defensive lineman BoChao Jin.
"I said at one of our staff meetings, that's one of the best parts of our job is seeing this transformation happen," Scrivano said. "It just takes them being in an environment like this to open the door fully. That's one of the hallmarks of our program is that there are a lot of athletes that discover Christ and discover that something greater is going on."
As different as they are, Na and Kennedy will both graduate on May 15 with a degree in corporate communications.
Baylor Bear Insider
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – One grew up in Tianshui, China, and knew very little English when she came to Baylor as a junior transfer from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The other is a native of Houston, Texas, who played Nos. 2 and 3 singles for two years at Purdue.
But this is more of a buddy movie like Rush Hour or The Other Guys than a remake of the old TV show, The Odd Couple. Kennedy Gibbs admits that she's the messier of the two roommates and says Na Dong is "the best cook I have ever known."
"I just feel like personality-wise, we're pretty similar," said Dong, a two-time All-Big 12 first-team selection who plays No. 1 singles for the Baylor women's tennis team (13-9). The Bears will play 25th-ranked Wisconsin at 1 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Texas A&M's Mitchell Tennis Center.
"We care about others. I think that's one of the reasons we decided to be roommates. She showed up in some of my tougher moments, and so do I. That's a huge part of our friendship. Whenever someone struggles or is dealing with something, she's always there."
Baylor coach Joey Scrivano said he went against his policy of putting an older player together with a younger player, "but we were able to accommodate them when they asked to room together."
"I just felt like they were really helping each other in the right way," Scrivano said. "They bring out the best in each other, let's put it this way. They've been awesome together, for sure."
Two years ago, Na and Kennedy didn't even know each other when they both showed up on the Baylor campus as juniors. While Kennedy was moving from the Midwest to her roots in Texas, Na is more than 7,000 miles from home.
Besides being that far from home, Na had to deal with a language barrier.
"I struggled that first semester," she said. "Also, a lot of the professors talk really fast, so sometimes it's really hard to catch up."
Those struggles didn't carry over to the court, where Na was 27-3 overall, a phenomenal 21-1 in dual matches and 17-0 at the No. 4 singles spot last year, earning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors.
"She just has a professional tennis player build," Scrivano said of the 6-0 senior. "She's tall, strong, looks the part. Immediately, you could just tell that she definitely has the profile of a WTA tennis player."
While Scrivano made two trips to China and brought Na in for a recruiting visit to Waco, he said Kennedy was "one of those prospects that kind of fell through the cracks" coming out of University Prep in Houston back in 2022.
"I wish she would have recruited her from the front end, but she slipped through the cracks," Scrivano said. "I don't know if she committed early to Purdue, but we're typically more patient with our commitments. But when she came available in the transfer portal, we obviously reached out, and I felt like we were aligned pretty quickly."
On a recruiting trip to Waco, Gibbs connected with former Baylor assistant coaches Lenka Broosova and Patricia Martins and "just knew that Baylor was the choice for me."
"I was still talking to other schools," Kennedy said, "but in my heart, I had already made up my mind that Baylor was going to be the choice for me."
Na and Kennedy were paired together in doubles that first year, going 4-4 overall and 3-2 in tournaments. But the bonds of friendship were built "when we started traveling during the season, Na said.
"I think we got closer in the spring than we did in the fall," said Kennedy, who has played mostly No. 3 singles while splitting doubles with six different partners. "I just think in the spring, you spend so much time with your teammates, you naturally start to build bonds with each other. And I think Na and I just formed a special bond between us."
Moving from No. 4 to the top of the lineup this year at No. 1, Na is 12-5 overall and 10-5 at No. 1, but said she "didn't have enough confidence playing (at No. 1) because i wasn't sure if I was good enough or not."
The biggest highlight of Na's time at Baylor came earlier this year, when she was baptized at the home church in Dallas of her boyfriend, former Baylor defensive lineman BoChao Jin.
"I said at one of our staff meetings, that's one of the best parts of our job is seeing this transformation happen," Scrivano said. "It just takes them being in an environment like this to open the door fully. That's one of the hallmarks of our program is that there are a lot of athletes that discover Christ and discover that something greater is going on."
As different as they are, Na and Kennedy will both graduate on May 15 with a degree in corporate communications.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Baylor Tennis (W): Bears win over Tulane 6-1 | January 18, 2026
Monday, January 19
Baylor Tennis (W): Kubacha clinches for the Bears vs Illinois! | January 17, 2026
Monday, January 19
Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame: Taylor Ormond Induction Speech
Wednesday, November 19
Baylor Women's Tennis: My Baylor Story - Zuzanna Kubacha
Thursday, November 06
