May 25, 2011
STANFORD, Calif. - A trio from the Baylor women's tennis team earned NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team honors, announced late Tuesday by NCAA officials.
The trio of Lady Bears included senior Jelena Stanivuk at No. 4 Singles and the doubles tandem of juniors Sona Novakova and Diana Nakic at No. 3 Doubles. The NCAA selects just one singles player and one doubles tandem for each of the six singles and three doubles positions in the team dual-match format.
Stanivuk, who finished her career undefeated in singles in NCAA Team Championship play, added three more victories this season to bring her total to 13-0. She collected a dominating 6-2, 6-0, victory over SMU's Heather Steinbauer in Baylor's Round of 16 win over the Mustangs. Two days later, Stanivuk boosted Baylor to the Final Four, clinching the final point in a 4-3 win over UNC in the NCAA Quarterfinals. In that match, Stanivuk dropped the first set 7-5, but bounced back 6-2, 6-2, in the next two for the dramatic win. Stanivuk got the win in the over 15th-ranked Kristie Ahn of Stanford to earn Baylor's only point when Ahn went down with an ankle injury just four games into the match.
The honor marks the second time in Stanivuk's career that she has been named to the all-tournament team, also earning 2008 accolades. She put together a 2011 record of 26-2, including an 11-0 mark in Big 12 play. Stanivuk finishes her Baylor career with a 100-18 mark which puts her seventh all-time in total wins and second all-time with an .847 winning percentage.
In doubles, the duo of Nakic and Novakova, who each transferred to Baylor prior to this season, really came together down the stretch of the season, winning their last six matches in a row. The pair went a perfect 5-0 in five NCAA Championship matches this season, and put together an overall record of 20-7 on the season.
The duo helped Baylor secure the doubles point in each of the first four matches of the NCAA Championship, and recorded the only BU doubles victory against Stanford in the national semifinal.
With the dual-match season over, Novakova, Nakic and Nina Secerbegovic will play in the 64-player NCAA Singles Championship, while Novakova will team with Secerbegovic in the 32-team NCAA Doubles Championships. The two events will run simultaneously from May 25-30 at the Taube Family Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif.
Complete NCAA Women's All-Tournament Team
SINGLES
No. 1 Singles: Hilary Barte, Stanford
No. 2 Singles: Lauren Embree, Florida
No. 3 Singles: Nicole Gibbs, Stanford
No. 4 Singles: Jelena Stanivuk, Baylor
No. 5 Singles: Alex Cercone, Florida
No. 6 Singles: Carolyn McVeigh, Stanford
DOUBLES
No. 1 Doubles: Hilary Barte/Mallory Burdette, Stanford
No. 2 Doubles: Lauren Embree/Sofie Oyen, Florida
No. 3 Doubles: Diana Nakic/Sona Novakova, Baylor
