PROVO, Utah — No. 51 BYU women's tennis upset No. 31 Baylor 4-3 in a thrilling match Thursday afternoon at the Indoor Tennis Courts, highlighted by Maddy Smith's match-clinching victory.
"Today's win was one you dream about as a collegiate coach. In the last game of the deciding match I was fighting to hold back the tears," said BYU head coach Holly Hasler. "Cougar nation was screaming in the stands, and in that moment, I was so proud of every member of my team. It would have been easy to feel defeated going into singles after being up three match points, but instead, we were more fired up than ever. Our focus has been on the process of playing every point with a plan and having great energy no matter what, and we did that today. This team is fighting and learning and growing together, and overall it is just plain fun."
The Cougars improved to 13-4 overall and 5-3 in Big 12 play with the win, marking their third victory over a ranked opponent this season.
Smith secured the match for BYU with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Danielle Tuhten, improving her season singles record to 4-2.
Bobo Huang notched another ranked singles win by defeating No. 101 Miska Kadleckova 7-6 (4), 6-1, bringing her tally to 12-3 for the year.
Tina Li improved to 11-5 in singles with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Isabella Harvison.
In doubles, Huang and Kaavya Sawhney improved to 11-3 after a 6-2 win over Kadleckova and Tuhten. Li and Kara Wheatley dropped their first match of the season, moving to 12-1.
Li and Kara Wheatley suffered their first doubles match loss of the season, falling to 12-1.
Doubles:
- Kubacha/Berry (BU) def. No. 40 Astle/Kovick (BYU), 7-6 (4)
- Huang/Sawhney (BYU) def. Kadleckova/Tuhten (BU), 6-2
- No. 66 Harvison/Kostenko (BU) def. Li/Wheatley (BYU), 6-2
The order of finish was 3, 2, 1
After Baylor and BYU traded doubles matches, Astle/Kovick and Kubacha/Berry were tied at 5. Astle and Kovick then moved ahead 6-5. Kubacha and Berry countered, tying the match at 6 before winning the tiebreaker 7-4 to secure the doubles point for the Bears.
Singles:
- No. 87 Bobo Huang (BYU) def. No. 101 Miska Kadleckova (BU), 7-6 (4), 6-1
- Tina Li (BYU) def. Isabella Harvison (BU), 6-3, 6-3
- Kendall Kovick (BYU) def. Liubov Kostenko (BU), 6-4, 6-0
- Zuzanna Kubacha (BU) def. Kara Wheatley (BYU), 7-6 (5), 6-3
- Zuzanna Frankowska (BU) def. Emilee Astle (BYU), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
- Maddy Smith (BYU) def. Danielle Tuhten (BU), 6-3, 6-3
The order of finish was 3, 2, 1, 4, 5, 6
Kovick took an early 4-1 lead and won the first set 6-4. In the second set, she led 2-0 and then cruised to a 6-0 win, claiming the first singles victory of the afternoon for the Cougars and tying the overall match score at 1-1.
Li held a 2-0 lead and extended it to 5-3 before winning the first set 6-3. In the second set, tied at 3-3, Li pulled ahead 5-3 and won the match 6-3, giving BYU a 2-1 lead.
Huang fell behind 3-1 but evened the score at 3. She later trailed 5-4, then tied it at 5. Kadleckova moved ahead 6-5, but Huang tied it again at 6. In the tiebreaker, Huang led 6-2 and won 7-4, taking the first set 7-6 (4). In the second set, tied at 1, Huang took a 4-1 lead after a drop shot over the net and dominated the rest of the set, winning 6-1. This victory extended BYU's lead to 3-1.
Wheatley and Kubacha were tied at 2 in the first set and again at 5 before Kubacha took the set 7-6 (5). In the second set, Kubacha led 4-2 and won 6-3, cutting Baylor's deficit to 3-2.
Frankowska took a 3-1 lead, extended it to 5-2 over Astle, and won the first set 6-3. In the second set, tied at 1, Astle moved ahead 4-3. The score was tied again at 5 and then 6. In the tiebreaker, Astle was behind 4-5 before Frankowska won 7-4, tying the overall match score at 3-3.
Smith and Tuhten were tied at 2 in their match before Smith took a 5-2 lead and won the first set 6-3. In the second set, Smith led 2-1 and then 3-2, continuing to extend her lead before winning 6-3. The victory for Smith clinched a 4-3 overall win for BYU in a thrilling match.
The Cougars will face No. 54 TCU at 2 p.m. MDT Saturday to complete a two-match homestand.