Oct. 25, 2010

Singles and Doubles Draws

WACO, Texas - In nearly a full week of action, Baylor junior Sona Novakova kept up her winning ways with two singles victories and one doubles victory to advance to the singles final and doubles semifinal on Monday at the USTA/ITA Texas Regionals at the Baylor Tennis Center.

With her two singles victories, Novakova has made her way through the 128-player field to reach final and a shot at a berth into the USTA/ITA Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y. early next month. In her first match of the day, Novakova made quick work of Texas Tech's Carolina Starck with a straight-set, 6-4, 6-4 win.

In the semifinals, UT's fifth-seeded Krista Damico, who received a walk-over win in the quarters, came out firing with a 6-1 first-set victory. Novakova regained her form in the next two sets, beating Damico 6-2, 6-2 to move on to the finals. Novakova will face SMU's second-seeded Marta Lesniak at 11 a.m.

"Sona did a great job of maintaining her focus throughout the day," head coach Joey Scrivano said. "It was a tough day, having to play two singles and one doubles match, but she really handled it well."

In doubles, Novakova and Nina Secerbegovic found themselves in a battle with Texas A&M's Christi Liles and Nazari Urbina. Facing a 4-3 deficit, the Baylor duo took each of their next two service games and got two break points for a 7-4 lead. The Aggies held serve and fought back with a break point, but the Lady Bears held them off for an 8-6 win.

With the win, Novakova and Secerbegovic move on to Tuesday's semifinal match to take on Texas' fifth-seeded duo of Aeriel Ellis and Krista Damico at 9 a.m.