June 10, 2011
WACO, Texas - With a Final Four season and a 29-4 record in the books, Baylor's sixth-ranked women's tennis team placed four singles players and two doubles pairs in the top 65 of the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings.
Despite a top-four finish at the NCAA Team Championship in Stanford, Calif., at the end of May, Baylor was ranked sixth in the final computer rankings released by the ITA. The ranking marked the fourth consecutive season that the Lady Bears have been ranked in the top six to end the season.
Individually, Baylor's outstanding trio of juniors along with a senior, all earned rankings inside the top 65 in singles. Junior Sona Novakova earned the highest ranking for Baylor at No. 20, after putting together a 30-12 record with a team-high 14 wins over ranked opponents.
Fellow junior and now two-time All-American Nina Secerbegovic will finish ranked No. 33 after making it to the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship and putting together a team-best 31-6 record.
The third junior of the group, Diana Nakic, earned a season-ending rank of 42nd, combining for a 30-7 record in her first season with the Lady Bears after transferring from Georgia State. She had a team-best 21-match winning streak, during which she lost only one set.
Senior Jelena Stanivuk entered the NCAA Team Championship ranked 112th, but adding to her lengthy win streak defeating three solid players including a top-20 win, she vaulted to 62nd to end the season. Stanivuk was unable to compete during the fall tournament season, but was a stalwart for Baylor in compiling a 26-2 dual-match record.
In doubles, Secerbegovic made up half of both ranked duos, including a No. 39 rank with Novakova and a No. 58 rank with Filipiak. The season featured multiple changes to Baylor's doubles lineup, but Secerbegovic totaled a record of 21-15. She was 9-2 with Novakova and 8-7 with Filipiak.
Baylor also received an invitation to serve as a dual-host site, including both men and women, for the qualifying rounds of the ITA National Indoor Championships. The Lady Bears will play host to UT-Arlington, Wyoming and Central Florida on Jan. 27-30 with a qualifying berth to the ITA championship in Charlottesville, Va.
