Match Preview: Women's Tennis vs. Kansas State
3/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 16, 2001
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#14 Baylor (11-2, 4-0) vs. #44 Kansas State (5-4, 2-0)
March 17, 2001, 10 a.m., Waco, Texas (Streich Tennis Courts)
Having won their last 18 home matches and seven straight matches overall, the 14th-ranked Baylor women's tennis team will try to keep things rolling Saturday against No. 44 Kansas State. The Bears and Wildcats will play at 10 a.m. at the Streich Tennis Courts.
The Bears have won seven in a row since losing back-to-back matches against then-No. 2 Georgia and then-No. 1 Stanford. Saturday's match is the second of four consecutive home matches for the Bears, to be followed by nine road matches in a row to end the regular season.
Kansas State is led by junior Alena Jecminkova, the 2000 ITA Central Region Player to Watch, who plays No. 1 singles for the Wildcats. At the No. 2 spot is sophomore Petra Sedlmajerova, the 2000 Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
Last season, K-State shocked the Bears with a 5-4 upset victory in Manhattan, Kan. The loss was the first of the year for Baylor after 12 straight wins and would prove to be one of only two conference losses for the Bears. Baylor is 2-2 against the Wildcats since the inception of the Big 12 Confence.
Team notes:
* The team's No. 13 (2/28 & 3/7) ranking was the program's highest ever. The Bears have ranked no lower than No. 19 since March 29, 2000.
* The Bears' win over then-No. 8 UCLA (Feb. 16) was the first win over a top-10 team in program history.
* Since entering the Big 12, the Baylor women are 49-7 at home. The Bears have won 18 in a row at home, dating back to April 13, 1999, when they lost to then-No. 17 Arkansas, 6-3.
* Baylor has won five straight season openers, dating back to 1996.
* The Baylor men's and women's tennis teams have both ranked in top 25 for the past 53 weeks, dating to March 15, 2000, when the Baylor women moved up to No. 18.
* The Bears have lost only one singles match in conference so far this season, the team is a combined 23-1 in singles.
* Baylor is 10-1 this season when winning the doubles point, the Bears are 5-0 when sweeping doubles but just 1-1 in matches where the opponent takes the first point.
Individual notes:
Head Coach Dave Luedtke: 184-123 in his 14th season, all at Baylor... Earned his 175th career win vs. Missouri (2/3).
Karin Andersson: Ranks third in school history in career singles wins (85), three wins behind second place Katja Kovac... Ranks second in program history in career doubles wins (68), nine behind record holder Sophie Goldschmidt.
Katja Kovac: Second in school history in career singles wins (88), four wins behind all-time leader Rachel Forney... Won a career-high 11 straight matches (10/28-2/1) before losing to then-No. 1 Laura Granville of Stanford in the second round of the Rolex Indoors. The 11-match streak tied for sixth-best in school history... Named preseason all-Big 12 in singles... Earned the highest ranking of her career in February at No. 19 (2/12)... Was the first Bear to reach 20 wins this season (2/19).
Vida Mulec: Has won a season-high seven straight singles matches... Re-entered the ITA singles rankings in December at a career-high No. 41... Top win this season came against then-No. 33 Kristy Dascoli of Ohio State (9/23)... Named preseason all-Big 12 in singles.
Jahnavi Parekh: Began the spring ranked No. 18 in the nation in singles... Tied with Sophie Goldschmidt for fifth place in school history in career wins (79), four wins behind fourth-place Melissa Castro... Named preseason all-Big 12 in singles... Was 1-2 at the Rolex Indoors... Top win this season came against then-No. 3 Sara Walker of UCLA.
Doubles notes:
* Long-time doubles partners Karin Andersson and Frida Borjesson won their first five matches of the year, lost to then-No. 8 Granville/Lastra of Stanford, and have now won seven more in a row. The seven-match streak is a new career-high for consecutive wins and ties for the second-longest streak in school history.
* Baylor's No. 1 team of Katja Kovac and Vida Mulec was named preseason all-Big 12.
