WACO, Texas (Feb. 21, 2025) – Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy defeated the nation's seventh-ranked doubles team but it was not enough as No. 15 Baylor defeated Washington State 7-0 Friday at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. With the loss, the cougars fall to 9-4 on the season while Baylor improves to 10-1.
 
Alvarez Sande and Murphy, ranked No. 88 nationally, recorded their biggest win of the season as they earned an early break of serve and never gave it back, defeating Baylor's seventh-ranked duo of Cristina Tiglea and Liubov Kostenko, 6-4, at No. 1 doubles. At No. 3, WSU's Hania Abouelsaad and Martina Puvill never lead as they fell 6-3 to Zuzanna Kubacha and Wenfei Yu, pushing the deciding match to Court. 2. WSU's pair of Elyse Tse and Chisato Kanemaki lead much of the way under being broken at 5-4, to even the match. The duo had a match point leading 6-5, but did not capitalize, as Baylor forced a tiebreaker. There, the Baylor pair of Na Dong and Sierra Berry jumped out to a 6-1 lead, fought off three match points, before closing out a 7-4 breaker to give Baylor the opening doubles point.
 
In singles play, Baylor extended it's lead to 2-0 following Kostenko's 6-2, 6-3 win over Murphy at No. 2. Yu followed close behind with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Kanemaki at No. 6 while Kubacha clinched the win for the Bears with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Tse at No. 3, giving Baylor the 4-0 lead.
 
At No. 5, Baylor's Kennedy Gibbs completed a 7-6, 6-2 win over Martina Markov while at No. 4, Abouelsaad, after winning the first set, could not hold on as she fell the No. 80 Dong, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-3).
 
The final match came down to a tiebreaker for the third set at No. 1. Alvarez Sande captured the first set, 6-4, before Tiglea rallied to take the second, 6-3. It went back-and-forth in the breaker before Tiglea prevailed 10-8, closing out the match.
 
The Cougars conclude their brief, two-match swing through Texas Saturday when they face No. 53 TCU in Fort Worth. Match time is set for 11 a.m. PT.
 
WASHINGTON STATE TENNIS
No. 15 Baylor 7 def. No. 45 Washington State 0
February 21, 2025
Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center
Waco, Texas
 
DOUBLES
No. 1 #88 Eva Alvarez Sande/Maxine Murphy (WSU) def. #7 Cristina Tiglea/Liubov Kostenko (BU) 6-4
No. 2 Na Dong/Sierra Berry (BU) def. Elyse Tse/Chisato Kanemaki (WSU) 7-6 (4)
No. 3 Zuzanna Kubacha/Wenfei Yu (BU) def. Hania Abouelsaad/Martina Puvill (WSU) 6-3
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
 
SINGLES
No. 1 Cristina Tiglea (BU) def. Eva Alvarez Sande (WSU) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8)
No. 2 Liubov Kostenko (BU) def. Maxine Murphy (WSU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 Zuzanna Kubacha (BU) def. Elyse Tse (WSU) 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 #80 Na Dong (BU) def. Hania Abouelsaad (WSU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-3)
No. 5 Kennedy Gibbs (BU) def. Martina Markov (WSU) 7-6, 6-2
No. 6 Wenfei Yu (BU) def. Chisato Kanemaki (WSU) 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2,6,3,5,4,1