No. 11 Baylor Edges Rainbow Wahine, 4-3

Rookie Marina Hruba has started the year at 4-0 in singles.

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HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team was edged out by No. 11 Baylor in UH's home opener 4-3 at the UH Tennis Complex on Saturday. The Rainbow Wahine battled hard all day against the Bears, but came up just short in their first dual match of the season.

In doubles, UH's duo of Marina Hruba and Paulina Petriskova powered past Baylor's Gabriela Ferreira and Theresa Van Zyl for a 6-2 win to start the day. The Bears' Karina Traxler and Kelley Anderson evened things up with a 6-4 win over Sarah Gealer and Klara Pribylova. On the No. 1 court, BU's Blair Shankle and Kiah Generette—ranked No. 12 in the ITA poll—staved off two match points and came away with a 7-6 tiebreaker win (7-4) over UH's Cindy Nguyen and Roxanne Resma.

Down a point entering the singles competition, Hawai'i got off to a strong start with Nguyen, Gealer, Hruba, and Pribylova all winning their first set. Hruba started UH well by winning her fourth-straight singles match of the young season, defeating Van Zyl in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 to even the match at 1-1. Baylor's Traxler held off UH's Petriskova, 6-4, 6-3, but Gealer then knocked off Anderson, 6-4, 6-3 to even the match again at 2-2. The last three matches of the day all went to three sets. UH's Resma was blanked in the first set, but battled back to win the second set, 6-4. But Baylor's Ferreira won the third set by a break, 6-4 to give BU a 3-2 lead. Hawai'i's Pribylova won her first set, 6-2 on the No. 3 court. But Baylor's Rhiann Newborn bounced back to win the second set, 6-4. The third set was tight throughout and came down to a tiebreaker at 6-6 with Newborn holding off Pribylova 7-5 to capture the team win for Baylor. Nguyen then defeated Generette in three hard fought sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to close the day.

The Rainbow Wahine will play a pair of dual matches next week, facing Nevada on Thursday, Jan. 14 and Washington on Saturday, January 16. Both matches will be played at the UH Tennis Complex

#11 Baylor 4, Hawai'i 3
Jan 09, 2016 at Honolulu, O'ahu (UH Tennis Complex)

Singles competition

1. Cindy Nguyen (UH) def. Kiah Generette (BU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4

2. Sarah Gealer (UH) def. Kelley Anderson (BU) 6-4, 6-3

3. Rhiann Newborn (BU) def. Klara Pribylova (UH) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)

4. Marina Hruba (UH) def. Theresa Van Zyl (BU) 6-1, 6-4

5. Karina Traxler (BU) def. Paulina Petriskova (UH) 6-4, 6-3

6. Gabriela Ferreira (BU) def. Roxanne Resma (UH) 6-0, 4-6, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. #12 Blair Shankle/Kiah Generette (BU) def. Cindy Nguyen/Roxanne Resma (UH) 7-6 (7-4)

2. Karina Traxler/Kelley Anderson (BU) def. Sarah Gealer/Klara Pribylova (UH) 6-4

3. Marina Hruba/Paulina Petriskova (UH) def. Gabriela Ferreira/Theresa Van Zyl (BU) 6-2

Match Notes