Texas Tech Athletics
[4] Baylor
Lady Raiders defeat No. 21 Baylor, head to finals
April 19, 2025 | Women's Tennis
WACO, Texas – Texas Tech lost four first sets in singles and still won the match. After gritty finishes and come-from-behind tennis play, the No. 15 Lady Raiders overtook the No. 21-ranked Baylor Bears, 4-2, on Saturday afternoon at the Hurd Tennis Center to advance to the Big 12 Championship finals.
1-seeded Texas Tech (21-2) took a 1-0 lead over 4-seeded Baylor (20-5) to start the semifinal match. The Lady Raiders got their first win at court two when Yekaterina Dmitrichenko and Hailey Murphy defeated Na Dong and Wenfei Yu. Tech went up 4-0 before losing three consecutive games. That was all they gave up as the Lady Raiders earned a 6-3 win.
It would be the No. 7-ranked duo of Mariia Hlahola and Avelina Sayfetdinova who clinched the doubles point after taking down No. 31-ranked Liubov Kostenko and Cristina Tiglea. Tech broke Baylor's serve for a 3-2 lead, then held serve to go up 4-2. They held serve the remainder of the match to clinch the point with a 6-4 win at court one.
Baylor tied the match at 1-1 after Dong defeated Andreea Lila at court four by a 6-1, 6-0 score. No. 96 Dmitrichenko rallied to give Tech back the lead after earning a straight-set win over Tiglea at court two. In the first set, Tiglea took a 2-0 lead before Dmitrichenko won the next four games to go up 4-2. She would claim two of the next four games to win it, 6-4. In the following set, she never lost a game after putting up a bagel, 6-0, to make it 2-1 overall in the contest.
Baylor responded by tying the match back up at 2-2 when Kubacha overtook Hlahola at court three, 2-6, 2-6. That would be Baylor's last win of the match. Over at court one, Sayfetdinova came back from a 3-6 first-set loss to Kostenko. In set two, the Lady Raider jumped out to a 5-2 lead before the Bear won two more games. Sayfetdinova held on to win it, however, by a 6-4 score. The Moscow, Russia native followed this up with a dominant third set, leading 5-0 before only dropping two games. She would claim it with a 6-2 set to put Tech up 3-2 in the match.
Clinching the match for the second-straight contest was Jermine Sherif at court six after beating Nanaka Sato. Sherif fell in the first set, 6-2. Both players were then tied 2-all in set two when Sherif won the next four games to claim it by a 6-2 score. She then continued that momentum to the final set, taking it by a 6-2 outing to help Tech advance to the tournament finals. At court five, Murphy was ahead of Kennedy Gibbs when it went unfinished. Murphy was down 1-4 in the first set, then responded by tying it at 5-5. She went down in the ensuing tiebreaker, 4-6, then rattled off five of the next six points for a 7-6 (7) win. She was leading 5-4 in the second set when it was abandoned.
Up next, Texas Tech is set to play 2-seeded and No. 22-ranked UCF in the finals tomorrow at 12 p.m.
RESULTS
#15 Texas Tech 4, #21 Baylor 2
Singles
1. Avelina Sayfetdinova (TTU) def. Liubov Kostenko (BU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
2. #96 Yekaterina Dmitrichenko (TTU) def. Cristina Tiglea (BU) 6-4, 6-0
3. Zuzanna Kubacha (BU) def. Mariia Hlahola (TTU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Na Dong (BU) def. Andreea Lila (TTU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Hailey Murphy (TTU) vs. Kennedy Gibbs (BU) 7-6 (9-7), 5-4, unfinished
6. Jermine Sherif (TTU) def. Nanaka Sato (BU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
1. #7 Mariia Hlahola/Avelina Sayfetdinova (TTU) def. #31 Liubov Kostenko/Cristina Tiglea (BU) 6-4
2. Yekaterina Dmitrichenko/Hailey Murphy (TTU) def. Na Dong/Wenfei Yu (BU) 6-3
3. Andreea Lila/Jermine Sherif (TTU) vs. Sierra Berry/Zuzanna Kubacha (BU) 5-4, unfinished
Order of finish
Doubles (2, 1); Singles (4, 2, 3, 1, 6)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
4,2,3,1,6
Players Mentioned
