Tulsa Storms Back to Upset No. 13-Ranked Baylor 4-3

Monday, March 6

Tulsa, Okla.

5 p.m.

Tulsa

Baylor

Tulsa Storms Back to Upset No. 13-Ranked Baylor 4-3

3/6/2017 7:54:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Riley Ubben

TULSA, Okla. – The University of Tulsa Women's Tennis team rallied from behind after dropping the doubles point to take four of the six singles matches as they upset No. 13-ranked Baylor 4-3 on Monday evening at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

The Hurricane (13-4 overall) dropped the doubles point in two tightly contested battles after Rongrong Leenabanchong and Martha Matoula won their 15^th doubles match of the season with a 6-0 shutout win over Blair Shankle and Rhiann Newborn. Ksenia Laskutova and Mahitha Dadireddy battled back from down 3-1 in their No. 1 doubles match against Elizabeth Profit and Theresa Van Zyl before the Baylor (10-3 overall) duo won the final three games in a 6-3 win.

Freshman duo Martina Okalova and Vera Ploner built a 3-1 lead over Jessica Hinojosa and Angie Shakhraichuk at the No. 3 spot in a match that eventually went into a tiebreak. The Tulsa pair led the tiebreak 5-2 before Hinojosa and Shakhraichuk won the final three points to go ahead 1-0 in the dual, 7-6 (7).

Tulsa used a pair of come from behind victories to swing the momentum in their favor during singles play. Leenabanchong trails No. 105-ranked Newborn 3-1 in the opening set before rallying to win five of the next seven before controlling the second set in a 6-4, 6-1 win.

Okalova cruised to a 6-1 first set win over Profit at No. 3 on her way to taking command of the second set 5-2. Profit rallied to pull within one at 5-4, but Okalova broke Profit's serve on game point to give TU their second point of the evening.

Marcelina Cichon rallied from down 5-2 in the first set to Shakhraichuk before winning the next five games to take first 7-5 en route to a 6-3 win in the second set to put the Hurricane ahead of the Bears 3-2.

Matoula contributed a key point for Tulsa in her match at the No. 5 position against Jessica Hinojos, a contest that was tight throughout. The sophomore won three of the final four games of the first set after being tied 4-4 before closing out the second set with three straight games in a 6-3 victory.

The Hurricane will head out on the road for two matches in Tampa, Fla., beginning with a contest against Liberty on March 15.

Singles
1. #14 Blair Shankle (Baylor) def. Ksenia Laskutova (Tulsa) 6-2. 7-5
2. Rongrong Leenabanchong (Tulsa) def. #105 Rhiann Newborn (Baylor) 6-4, 6-1
3. Martina Okalova (Tulsa) def. Elizabeth Profit (Baylor) 6-1, 6-4
4. Theresa Van Zyl (Baylor) def. Mahitha Dadireddy (Tulsa) 6-2, 6-2
5. Martha Matoula (Tulsa) def. Jessica Hinojosa (Baylor) 7-5, 6-3
6. Marcelina Cichon (Tulsa) def. Angie Shakhraichuk (Baylor) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles
1. Elizabeth Profit/Theresa Van Zyl (Baylor) def. Ksenia Laskutova/Mahitha Dadireddy (Tulsa) 6-3
2. Rongrong Leenabanchong/Martha Matoula (Tulsa) def. Blair Shankle/Rhiann Newborn (Baylor)
3. Jessica Hinojosa/Angie Shakhraichuk (Baylor) def. Martina Okalova/Vera Ploner (Tulsa) 7-6 (7)

For all Tulsa women's tennis news and information, visit TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Women's Tennis on Twitter and Facebook.