Match Preview: Women's Tennis vs. Arkansas
3/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 23, 2001
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#18 Baylor (12-3, 5-1) vs. #33 Arkansas (7-6, 1-6)
Saturday, March 24, 2001, 1 p.m. , Waco, Texas (Streich Tennis Courts)
The 18th-ranked Baylor women's tennis team continues a traditional rivalry that dates back to the Southwest Conference when the Bears host No. 33 Arkansas Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Streich Tennis Courts.
The two teams met annually as conference rivals from 1983, when Baylor's program began, through 1991, after which Arkansas left to join the Southeastern Conference. Even playing in separate conferences, the Bears and Lady'Backs have met once a year every season but two.
Arkansas holds a 14-2 lead in the all-time series, Baylor's wins came in 1993 (a 7-2 decision in Waco) and in 2000, when the Bears squeaked past Arkansas 5-4 in Fayetteville. Baylor came away with the win as the Bears' No. 2 doubles team of Katja Kovac and Vida Mulec upset Arkansas' 26th-ranked Andrea Ho and Chin Bee Choo, 8-5.
During the fall, Kovac again pulled off an important win, this time beating the ninth-ranked Choo in the finals of the ITA Southwest Regional.
In singles, Arkansas is led by Choo, now ranked 19th. Head coach Kevin Platt enters the match looking to become the winningest coach in Lady Razorback history. Platt, head coach since 1991, has 107 wins at Arkansas, tied with Kathy Mack (1979-84).
Living It Up at Home
Since entering the Big 12 prior to the 1996-97 season, the Baylor women are 51-7 at home. The Bears won 19 home matches in a row from Feb. 1, 2000 through March 17, 2001. That streak ended with a 5-2 loss to then-No. 10 Texas on Thursday.
Between April 16, 1999, and March 10, 2001, the Baylor men's and women's tennis teams won a combined 34 straight matches at home (16 by the men, 18 by the women).
Big 12 = Big Success
The Bears have lost only seven singles matches in conference so far this season, the team is a combined 29-7 in singles. Four of those seven losses came in a single match, a 5-2 loss to Texas.
Double(s) Trouble
Baylor is 11-1 this season when winning the doubles point, including a 5-0 record when sweeping doubles. The Bears are 1-2 in matches when the opponent takes the first point.
Streaking
The Bears saw an eight-match win streak come to an end Thursday with their loss to then-No. 10 Texas. Each of Baylor's three losses this season has came against top-10 teams, including consecutive matches against then-No. 2 Georgia and then-No. 1 Stanford.
Katja Kovac 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.
Vida Mulec won eight straight singles matches (2/16-3/17), a season high for her and two wins shy of her career high of 10.
Long-time doubles partners Karin Andersson and Frida Borjesson won their first five matches of the year, lost to No. 8 Granville/Lastra of Stanford, then won seven more in a row before losing March 17. The seven-match streak was a new career high for the duo and tied for the second-longest doubles win streak in school history.
Head Coach Dave Luedtke
Head coach Dave Luedtke is 184-124 in his 14th season, all at Baylor... Earned his 175th career win vs. Missouri (2/3).
Climbing the Ladder
Several current Baylor players are making their way up the career leader charts:
* Karin Andersson ranks third in school history in career singles wins (86), four wins behind second-place Katja Kovac. Andersson ranks second in career doubles wins (68), nine behind record holder Sophie Goldschmidt.
* Katja Kovac ranks second in career singles wins (90), two victories behind all-time leader Rachel Forney.
* Jahnavi Parekh holds fifth place in career singles wins (79), three behind fourth-place Melissa Castro.
Racking Up the Wins
Katja Kovac became the first Bear to reach 20 wins this season (2/19). Jahnavi Parekh and Vida Mulec ./followed suit nearly a month later, as each won her 20th on the same day (3/17).
No Bears reached the 20 win mark in 1999-2000, but five Bears won at least that many in 1998-1999 (Karin Andersson 34, Kovac 33, Claudia Aguilar 24, Hortensia Hernandez 22 and Parekh 20).
Baylor in the Rankings
The team's No. 13 national ranking (2/28 and 3/7) was the program's highest ever. The Bears have ranked no lower than No. 19 since March 29, 2000.
The Baylor men's and women's tennis teams were both in the top 25 for 53 straight weeks, a streak which ended March 21 when the men fell to No. 43. The stretch began March 15, 2000, when the women moved up to No. 18.
Two Bears have earned their highest career ranking this season. Katja Kovac earned the highest singles ranking of her career in February at No. 19 (2/12), and Vida Mulec received her highest ranking at No. 41 in December.
Preseason Honors
The Baylor women earned three singles nominations and one doubles selection on the preseason all-Big 12 team. Senior all-American Jahnavi Parekh, junior Katja Kovac and sophomore Vida Mulec were each honored in singles, and the team of Kovac and Mulec was named to the doubles list.
Miscellaneous
Baylor has won five straight season openers, dating back to 1996... The Bears' win over then-No. 8 UCLA (Feb. 16) was the first win over a top-10 team in program history.
