April 29, 2010
Big 12 Championship Notes | Big 12 Championship Central
AUSTIN, Texas - The No. 1-ranked Lady Bears enter the Big 12 Championship fresh off possibly the best regular season in program history, compiling a 24-2 record, including their third consecutive undefeated Big 12 regular season. Baylor is riding an 18-match win streak, with their last loss coming at then-No. 8 Michigan on Feb. 26. The Lady Bears have also won 52 consecutive matches over Big 12 opponents, along with the last six regular season titles and the last four Big 12 Championship titles.
Baylor is led by head coach Joey Scrivano, who has compiled an overall record of 183-51 (.782) in his eight seasons at the helm of the Baylor program. Under Scrivano's watch, the Lady Bears have compiled a Big 12 record of 82-6 (.782), seven Big 12 regular season titles and four Big 12 tournament titles. Baylor is 65-1 in the last six Big 12 regular seasons.
Individually, fifth-ranked senior Lenka Broosova has been the backbone of the Baylor squad, compiling a dual-match singles record of 22-2, including an 11-0 mark in No. 1 singles in the Big 12. Sophomore Nina Secerbegovic, ranked 18th, leads Baylor in singles victories with a 24-2 dual-match record, including a 10-1 mark at No. 2. Junior Taylor Ormond is ranked 68th and has held down the No. 3 spot for Baylor, compiling a 16-6 mark in dual-match play. Senior Csilla Borsanyi, Baylor's fourth and final ranked singles player at No. 98, has a 14-8 dual-match record and a 9-2 mark in Big 12 play.
The Lady Bears also dominated doubles play, especially in the Big 12, winning the point in all 11 matches. The No. 11 duo of Broosova and Borsanyi were 10-0 in league play at the No. 1 spot, while the midseason combination of Secerbegovic and Jelena Stanivuk produced a 7-0 record against conference competition and a 13-0 record overall.
During the Big 12 regular season, the Lady Bears lost two points in a match just one time, in a 5-2 win over then-No. 35 Texas in Austin.
Top-seeded Baylor will take on the winner of eighth-seeded Kansas State and ninth-seeded Colorado at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 30. The Lady Bears defeated Kansas State 6-1 and Colorado 7-0 earlier this season.
STREAKS, STREAKS, AND MORE STREAKS
The Lady Bears have put together one of the most impressive sets of streaks in Big 12 and Baylor history. They enter the Big 12 tournament fresh off their sixth consecutive conference regular season title, along with being the four-time defending tournament champs.
Baylor has completed each of the last three regular season Big 12 schedules without a blemish, and are currently on a streak of 42 consecutive Big 12 regular season wins and 52 consecutive wins over Big 12 opponents including the postseason. The last loss to a conference opponent came on March 4, 2007 to then-No. 43 Colorado in Boulder.
This season, Baylor went 6-2 in their first eight matches, with losses to only No. 11 North Carolina and No. 8 Michigan, but have ripped off their last 18 in a row to finish the regular season with a 24-2 record. During the streak, Baylor beat four teams ranked in the top six in the nation.
THE VIEW FROM THE TOP
For the first time in program history, the Lady Bears reached the No. 1 ranking. On three seperate occasions in 2010, they have reached the top, including their current No. 1 status. Baylor was first ranked at the top for a week on March 16 after defeats of No. 2 UCLA and No. 4 North Carolina. Despite no losses, Baylor dropped out of the top spot for two weeks, until defeats of No.29 SMU, No. 36 Texas and No. 6 Northwestern helped them to the top again on April 6. Another perfect week led to a drop to the No. 2 spot for two weeks until the most recent ranking came out on Tuesday, April 27.
IN THE CLASSROOM, TOO
Baylor's women's tennis team placed five student-athletes on the Academic All-Big 12 team as announced by conference officials on Tuesday, April 27. Among the five, three were honored for the second consecutive season.
Four of the five achieved first team status, with one on the second team. Making up Baylor's first team selections were two-time honorees Taylor Ormond and Karolina Filipiak, along with first-time honorees Csilla Borsanyi and Nina Secerbegovic. Jelena Stanivuk was also honored for the second year in a row, earning a spot on the second team.
LADY BEARS DOMINATE RANKED OPPONENTS
This season, the Lady Bears have held their own against ranked opponents, compiling an impressive 18-2 record, including a 6-1 mark against the nation's top 10. On March 10, Baylor recorded the highest-ranked win in school history with a 4-3 defeat at No. 2 UCLA. €ˆThree days later, BU €ˆavenged an early season loss to North Carolina to take down the fourth-ranked Tar Heels 4-3 in Waco. The Lady Bears only loss to a top-10 opponent was a 4-3 nailbiter at then-No. 8 Michigan.
Baylor also recorded top 10 wins at No. 6 Miami (4-3), in a neutral site match with No. 8 USC €ˆ(5-2), and at home against No. 6 Notre Dame (6-1) and No. 5 Northwestern (4-3).
BROOSOVA OWNING THE RECORD BOOK
Senior Lenka Broosova has put together possibly the most spectacular career in program history. Earlier this season, the three-time All-American and three-time All-Big 12 first teamer broker the BU records for most singles and doubles wins in a career. In singles, Broosova broke the record with her first dual-match win of 2010, and has proceeded to put it out of reach with 21 more to bring her total to 149. In doubles, she broke the record nine wins into the season and has added 12 more for a total of 112 in her career.
With a perfect 11-0 record in Big 12 play this season, Broosova also took the No. 1 singles title. She was named the Big 12's Player of the Week twice this season, giving her five POW awards for her career.
What's more impressive is that Broosova has had a hand in Baylor's 52-match win streak over Big 12 opponents, including the three consecutive undefeated regular seasons. Broosova has also had a hand in each of the last four Big 12 regular season titles, and each of the last three Big 12 Championship titles, with a chance for a fourth this weekend.
STREAKS OF INDIVIDUAL NATURE
Individually, Baylor's singles and doubles lineups have put together impressive win streaks. Of Baylor's seven players who have shared the singles lineups, five of them have recorded a streak of at least eight wins, while all seven have had a win streak of at least four wins this season.
Sophomore Nina Secerbegovic, who leads BU with 33 singles wins on the season, opened the dual-match season with 18 consecutive wins. During the stretch, she lost just three sets and took down six ranked opponents. Secerbegovic has started another streak winning her last five matches. In her last three matches alone, she has won four sets 6-0.
Senior Lenka Broosova, who has just two singles matches during the dual-match season, has an eight-match win streak and two seven-match win streaks to her credit. Juniors Taylor Ormond and Karolina Filipiak each have recorded a win streak of eight matches, while senior Csilla Borsanyi is currently on a nine-match win streak.
In doubles, the duo of Secerbegovic and Jelena Stanivuk joined forces midseason and have been on a tear, winning all 13 matches they have played together. Meanwhile, Baylor's 10th-ranked duo of Broosova and Borsanyi is currently on a seven-match win streak and own a 21-4 record.
BIG 12 SINGLES AND DOUBLES CHAMPS
Baylor's singles lineup in conference play combined to take individual medalist honors at three positions, while finishing runner-up at two positions. At the No. 1 spot, Lenka Broosova put together a perfect season with an 11-0 record, while Nina Secerbegovic was 10-1 at No. 2, and Csilla Borsanyi was 9-2 at No. 4 to become singles champs. BU's runner-ups came at No. 5 with Karolina Filipiak record and at No. 6 with Carla Lindlar, each finishing with an 8-1 record.
In doubles play, Broosova and Borsanyi formed a perfect duo to win the Big 12 title at No. 1 with a 10-0 record.
The honor is given to the student-athlete who records the most wins at a given position. The award is not based on winning percentage, just total wins. In the event of a tie, both are named position champions.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FALL
During individual tournaments during the fall 2009, this Baylor squad set the table for the season, combining to win two tournaments and reach at least the semifinals in two others.
Senior Csilla Borsanyi ripped off five consecutive victories on her home court to take the HEB €ˆBaylor Invitational title. In the championship match, she defeated Texas A&M's Elze Potgieter. Junior Jelena Stanivuk started the fall with a victory in BU's first tournament, the Midland Racquet Club Invitational in Midland, €ˆTexas.
Sophomore Nina Secerbegovic won five straight matches to reach the final of the Wilson/ITA €ˆTexas Regional held in Waco, but fell to Texas standout Aeriel Ellis. Senior Lenka Broosova took down to top 30 opponents to reach the semifinals of the ITA €ˆNational Indoor Championships before falling to eighth-ranked Irina Falconi from Georgia Tech.
