Texas Tech Athletics
Baylor
Lady Raiders host Baylor, No. 9 Texas at The McLeod
March 30, 2023 | Women's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – Coming off two big conference wins last week, the No. 33 Texas Tech Lady Raiders (12-6, 2-2 Big 12) are back at home to host both the No. 40 Baylor Bears and the No. 9 Texas Longhorns. The Bears are the first matchup for the Lady Raiders as the two battle it out on Friday, March 31 at 6 p.m., before Tech welcomes the defending national champion Longhorns on Sunday, April 2 at 12 p.m.
Last week, the Lady Raiders defeated both the No. 20 Kansas Jayhawks and the Kansas State Wildcats by 6-1 scores. Against the Jayhawks, it was Tech's first top-20 win of the year as they collected their 11th doubles point, which included a ranked win for Metka Komac and Avelina Sayfetdinova at court one, then added singles wins from Sayfetdinova, Cristina Tiglea, Yekaterina Dmitrichenko, Komac and Arina Oreshchenkova.
With Kansas State having to forfeit at three doubles, Tech only needed one more win to clinch the point, which they got from Olivia Peet and Tiglea at court two. Then, going up 2-0 with a K-State forfeit at court six, the Lady Raiders provided singles wins from Peet, Tiglea, Dmitrichenko and Komac to earn another conference victory.
In singles, Dmitrichenko leads the team with 11 dual wins followed by Oreshchenkova with nine. Both Dmitrichenko and Komac also have a team-best three singles wins in Big 12 play. The doubles teams of Komac/Sayfetdinova as well as Peet/Tiglea lead the Lady Raiders with eight wins and two victories in conference. In the ITA rankings, Komac and Tiglea are ranked No. 47 in doubles and Komac/Sayfetdinova check in at No. 50.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Baylor is ranked No. 40 in the latest ITA rankings and holds an overall 11-10 record with a 2-4 record in Big 12 play. The Bears have wins over Houston, Ole Miss, Kansas State, West Virginia and Denver. Some losses come against Florida, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Texas and Iowa State. Alina Shcherbinina leads the Bears with 13 dual singles wins, followed by Isabella Harvison and Anita Sahdiieva with 10 apiece. In doubles, the duo of Harvison and Sahdiieva post a team-best five dual wins. Baylor has two players ranked in singles by the ITA as Harvison ranks No. 94 and Shcherbinina sits at No. 124.
The Texas Longhorns, who won the 2022 national championship, are No. 9 in the nation and have a 15-3 overall record, while going 5-1 in conference. They have wins over SMU, USC, Oklahoma, Washington, Kansas and Iowa State. Their three losses come against Iowa State, Stanford and Oklahoma State. In dual singles, Charlotte Chavatipon leads the team with 13 wins, primarily at the No. 2 position. In doubles, Taisiya Pachkaleva and Nicole Rivkin have a team-high nine dual wins followed by Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova with eight. The Longhorns have four players ranked in singles – Chavatipon (66), Nicole Kihrin (76), Marlee Zein (104) and Zeynalova (110) – while two doubles teams are ranked - Chavatipon/Zeynalova at No. 41 and Khirin/Zein at No. 48. Texas will face TCU on Friday before heading to Lubbock on Sunday.
Opponents in the Rankings
Singles
Baylor
No. 94 Isabella Harvision
No. 124 Alina Shcherbinina
Texas
No. 66 Charlotte Chavatipon
No. 76 Nicole Khirin
No. 104 Marlee Zein
No. 110 Sabina Zeynalova
Doubles
Texas
No. 41 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova
No. 48 Nicole Khirin/Marlee Zein
FOLLOW ALONG
Live video and live stats will be available for both matches. Admission into the matches is free. Follow @TexasTechWTEN on Twitter for updates and scores of the matches.
Players Mentioned
