April 30, 2005
AUSTIN, Texas - The 15th-ranked Baylor women's tennis team advanced to the championship match of the 2005 Big 12 Tournament at the University of Texas' Penick-Allison Tennis Center on a windy Saturday afternoon. The Lady Bears defeated Texas A&M 4-1 and advanced to the tournament finals where they will face the winner of the Texas/Colorado match. BU advanced to the finals for just the second time in school history, the 2000 squad lost to Texas 5-0 in the championship match.
The victory raised the Lady Bears' record to 22-4 while Texas A&M dropped to 15-12.
Baylor avenged its doubles point loss when the two teams matched up against each other in College Station earlier this season. BU's 25th-ranked tandem of Daniela Covello and Zuzana Cerna downed Anna Lubinsky and Lauren Walker, 8-4, for their fourth consecutive victory at No. 1. At court three, Carolin Walter and Caroline Korsawe rallied from a 2-4 deficit and secured the doubles point for the Lady Bears by winning six straight games to register an 8-4 victory.
The Lady Bears won singles matches at the No. 3, 4 and 2 courts, respectively. Carolin Walter dominated Anna Lubinsky 6-0, 6-2 to walk off the court first. Next, Daniela Covello posted a 6-2, 6-3 win over Anna Blagodarova. The Aggies' only point of the day came when Tiffany Clifford defeated BU's Klara Zrustova at No. 5, 6-2, 6-4. The loss halted Zrustova's win streak at four matches. Zuzana Cerna avenged an earlier loss to Texas A&M's Lauren Walker. On April 14 in College Station, Walker halted Cerna's eight-match win streak but on Saturday Cerna reversed the roles. Cerna clinched the match for Baylor with a 6-2, 7-5 win on court two. Two matches were halted after Baylor secured the victory. At court six, Zuzana Krchnakova held a 5-1 lead in the first match but Marissa Druss rallied to tie it at five all. The two players each held serve then Krchnakova won the tiebreaker 7-4 to win the first set and was ahead 2-0 when play was halted. At the top spot, Texas A&M's Helga Walker won the first set versus Zuzana Zemenova but the second set was tied 4-4 when play was suspended.
"Texas A&M is a good team, they're going to keep fighting to the end. We knew that and we were ready for it. Zuzana Cerna wanted a different result than when she played Walker before (6-1, 7-5 loss). She played a more disciplined, high percentage match this time," said head coach Joey Scrivano.
#15 Baylor 4, #33 Texas A&M 1
Doubles
Order of finish: 1, 3
1. #25 Covello/Cerna (BU) vs. Lubinsky/Walker (TAMU) 8-4
2. Zemenova/Zrustova (BU) vs. Blagodarova/Clifford (TAMU) DNF
3. Caroline Korsawe/Walter (BU) vs.Seva Iwinski/Vieira (TAMU) 8-4
Singles
Order of finish: 3, 4, 5, 2
1. #22 Zuzana Zemenova (BU) vs. Helga Vieira (TAMU) DNF
2. Zuzana Cerna (BU) def. Lauren Walker (TAMU) 6-2, 7-5
3. #80 Carolin Walter (BU) def. Anna Lubinsky (TAMU) 6-0, 6-2
4. Daniela Covello (BU) def. Anna Blagodarova (TAMU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Tiffany Clifford (TAMU) def. Klara Zrustova (BU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Zuzana Krchnakova (BU) vs. Marisa Druss (TAMU) DNF
