The WSU Cougars (4-0) have had a very impressive start to their 2024 campaign. They have two wins when defending home court, and two wins when on the road, looking for their third consecutive road win. In the midst of their five-game road trip, the Cougs traveled to Seattle to face the Baylor Bears (1-2) at the Nordstrom Tennis Center on University of Washington’s campus. 

Baylor tennis has had an interesting start to their year. Starting the season off (0-2) with two blowout losses to Florida and Texas, both being top 10 ranked schools, the Bears found their first win of the season against SMU, giving them the confidence to win their second straight against the Cougs.

The match started with doubles as Baylor took early control over the Cougs. Baylor’s Miska Kadleckova and Danielle Tuhten defeated Yura Nakagawa and Fifa Kumhom 6-1. Needing one more win out of the final two matches, the Bears wouldn’t wait long as Zuzanna Frankowska and Zuzanna Kubacha swept past WSU’s Hania Abouelsaad and Martina Markov in a 6-2 victory, clinching the opening point.

In some good news, Eva Alvarez Sande and Elyse Tse were able to sneak by Baylor’s Liubov Kostenko and Sierra Berry in a 7-6 victory. While it didn’t affect Baylor winning the opening doubles point, Alvarez Sande and Tse still haven’t lost as a duo in 2024, an impressive feature in itself.

Moving over to singles, WSU needed to get off to a quick start but sadly it would take them some time before winning their first match. The first match to conclude was between Frankowska and Markov, with Frankowska ending the match quickly in a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Following the 2-0 Baylor lead, Alvarez Sande experienced her first singles loss in 2024 with Kadleckova barely sneaking by in a 6-4, 6-4 win increasing Baylor’s lead to 3-0.

The Cougs would finally strike back with Nakagawa setting up WSU for a potential comeback in her 6-4, 6-4 win over Berry. Down 3-1 with three matches to go, Tse would be the next to finish her match. In an intense game against Kubacha, Tse would give another point to WSU, winning 6-4, 7-5.

Now only down 3-2 with two matches remaining, Kostenko faced off against Kumhom, both desperately needing a win. Kumhom won the first set 6-4 with Kostenko striking back with a 6-1 win, it all came down to a tiebreaker. Gaining momentum from her second-round victory, Kostenko used it to propel forward and defeat Kumhom 6-2 in the tiebreaker. This victory gave Baylor a 4-2 lead, clinching the win and handing the Cougs their very first loss of 2024. 

The last match of the day saw Tuhten defeat Abouelsaad in another three-set match 6-4, 2-6, 10-6, ending the day as Baylor won 5-2. 

Now 4-1 on the year, the Cougs will look to bounce back from their loss and conclude their five-game road trip with their heads high. The Cougs will travel Feb. 9, to Portland to face off against  University of Portland. They will finish their road trip Feb. 10, against Portland State in Beaverton, Oregon.