Jan. 3, 2005
WACO, Texas - Baylor's women's tennis program is well represented in the most recent Southwest Region rankings. Sophomore Zuzana Cerna (pronounced Cherna) and junior Daniela Covello are ranked No. 1 in the region in doubles and Cerna, Covello and sophomore Carolin Walter appear in the singles rankings as well.
Cerna, a newcomer from Prague, Czech Republic, and Covello, a native of Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, were paired together for the first time to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southwest Regional Tournament and proceeded to march through the competition with a 6-0 record to claim the doubles championship. The duo advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Indoor Nationals where they were defeated by the Northwestern duo of Audra Cohen and Cristelle Grier. Prior to playing the Baylor duo, Grier and Cohen had defeated the tournament's No. 1 seeded doubles team of Whitney Benik and Lolita Frangulyan of Florida. Cerna and Covello finished fall competition with a 7-1 record.
Cerna is also the team's top-ranked regional player, sitting at No. 7 with a 7-3 fall mark. She advanced the quarterfinals of the ITA Southwest Regional tournament before bowing out. Covello, ranked No. 10 in the region, posted a 6-8 fall record which included two wins over 54th-ranked Svetlana Kouzmenko of SMU. Walter, a sophomore from Bingen, Germany and the only Baylor player to compete in the ITA All-American Tournament, was 6-2 during fall singles competition. She defeated two ranked players in the fall, 55th-ranked Kelly Anderson of Georgia Tech and 65th-ranked Nicole Bouffler of Long Beach State.
"I am very pleased with how our team performed this fall and the Regional rankings are a good indicator of the progress we are making," said head coach Joey Scrivano.
The ITA singles and doubles national rankings will be posted on Tuesday, Jan. 11, at www.itatennis.com.
Southwest
Singles
1. Helena Besovic, TCU
2. Story Tweedie-Yates, TCU
3. Kendra Strohm, Texas
4. Helga Vieira, Texas A&M
5. Jenny Langer, SMU
6. Blair DiSesa, Rice
7. Zuzana Cerna, Baylor
8. Dorottya Magas, Tulane
9. Nancy Kockett, Tulane
10. Daniela Covello, Baylor
11. Carolin Walter, Baylor
Doubles
1. Cerna-Covello, Baylor
2. Besovic-Karla Mancinas, TCU
3. Maria Ivanov-Darya Ivanov, Tulane
4. Kewa Nichols-Story Tweedie-Yates, TCU
5. Katie Ruckert-Strohm, Texas
6. Ristine Olsen-Petra Dizdar, Texas
