May 13, 2017
Complete Results
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Glancing over at the Hurd Tennis Center scoreboard, Rhiann Newborn saw that junior teammate Theresa Van Zyl was up a set and leading 5-0 on Court 4, with a chance to close out 16th-seeded Baylor's NCAA first-round matchup against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
"I saw that she was up 5-0, so I was like, `Oh no!''' Newborn said. "And I was like, `All right, let me get my game together, let me finish out this set,' because I wanted to be the clincher this time."
The Baylor senior did just that, defeating the Islanders' Louise Trigona, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 3 singles to finish off the Lady Bears' 4-0 victory Saturday afternoon before the home crowd.
Baylor (22-6), which ran its home record to 16-0 this season and 21-0 all-time when hosting NCAA Championship first- and second-round matches, will face No. 20 Texas A&M (17-12) at 1 p.m. Sunday with a berth in the Round of 16 on the line.
"It's a rivalry match. And when you put the NCAA tournament on top of that, it's what you want," Baylor coach Joey Scrivano said. "You want matches where you feel like you're going in the deep end. And whenever we play Texas A&M, that's the type of match it is. They've had a tremendous amount of success against us the last few years, and they're just a great team. We've got to be ready to play and do what we do."
That was certainly the case on Saturday. The Lady Bears took control with early breaks on all three doubles courts, with Blair Shankle and Karina Traxler clinching the point with a 6-2 win at No. 1 over Jelena Dzinic and Judit Vives.
Freshmen Angelina Shakhraichuk and Jessica Hinojosa dominated on Court 2, 6-1, then carried that over to dominating performances in singles. Facing a pair of A&M-Corpus Christi players that were a combined 37-3, Shakhraichuk and Hinojosa lost two just games between them in giving Baylor a 3-0 lead.
Hinojosa was the first off the court, running her record to 12-6 with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over the Islanders' Marina Vicens-Miguel at No. 6. Shakhraichuk won the first 11 games at No. 5 singles before getting broken then bounced back with a break of her won to finish off Maria Maldonado, 6-0, 6-1.
"We have great depth on our team, and our freshmen are a big part of that," Scrivano said. "They've definitely helped our lineup become stronger all the way, 1 through 6. That's what it takes to have a team that goes deep in the tournament."
The Lady Bears won the first set on all six courts and were in control at the other three spots when Newborn closed it out against an A&M-Corpus Christi team that finished the season at 20-3.
"We knew they would be really tough and they were going to make a lot of balls," Scrivano said. "They were going to force us to play our best tennis, and that's what you want in the first round. It never helps you to just get a cake walk and not get pushed at all, because then you create bad habits and that doesn't translate well in the next round."
Texas A&M had anything but a cake walk in its first-round match against Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks (16-2) knocked off a pair of ranked players at Nos. 1 and 2 singles and were into a third set at No. 4 when the Aggies' Eva Paalma closed out a 4-2 win by beating Karolina Snita, 6-2, 7-5, at No. 5.
"It's going to be a really good matchup, so we're going to have to bring our `A' game and just keep competing from the very first point in doubles to the last point in singles," Newborn said.
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas -- No. 16-ranked Baylor women's tennis advanced to the NCAA Championship second round for the 13th consecutive season and the 15th time overall with a 4-0 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Bears move to 21-0 when hosting NCAA first and second rounds and maintain their perfect mark at Hurd Tennis Center on the year, 16-0, following the win.
Baylor (22-6) got off to a strong start in doubles and never looked back en route to its shutout victory over the Islanders (20-3). The freshman duo of Angelina Shakhraichuk and Jessica Hinojosa got the ball rolling with a 6-1 victory on court two over Hortense Boscher and Louise Trigona.
Baylor's No. 35-ranked pair of senior Blair Shankle and sophomore Karina Traxler delivered the first point with a 6-2 win against Jelena Dzinic and Judit Vives in No. 1 doubles. Following the win, Shankle and Traxler move to 8-1 on the year.
The freshman class carried the momentum through into singles with Hinojosa recording the first victory on court six, 6-1, 6-0, against Marina Vicens Miquel and Shakhraichuk posting the second on court five, 6-0, 6-1, over Maria Maldonado.
Senior Rhiann Newborn provided the clincher for the Lady Bears with a 6-1, 6-3 decision against Trigona in No. 3 singles. She has recorded the match-winner in Baylor's last two home contests.
Baylor advances to meet No. 20-ranked Texas A&M in the second round on Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT) at Hurd Tennis Center. The Lady Bears defeated the Aggies during the regular season, 4-0, but Texas A&M was missing its top singles player at the time.
OTHER NOTABLES
ÃÆ' ¢- Baylor advances to the NCAA Championship second round for the 13th consecutive season and the 14th time overall.
ÃÆ' ¢- The Lady Bears are 21-0 when hosting NCAA Championship first and second round action.
ÃÆ' ¢- Baylor is perfect at home this season, possessing a 16-0 record.
ÃÆ' ¢- Baylor is 15-5 in the first round of NCAA play all-time and 13-1 under head coach Joey Scrivano.
ÃÆ' ¢- Baylor is 34-19 all-time in the NCAA Championship and 31-13 under Scrivano's direction.
ÃÆ' ¢- BU is 23-1 all-time in all NCAA Championship matches played in Waco.
ÃÆ' ¢- The Lady Bears have won nine of their last 10 dual matches.
ÃÆ' ¢- Baylor owns a 10-4 record in NCAA second round matches all-time.
TOP QUOTES
"Corpus Christi is a great team. They are a conference championship team. We knew that they were going to be really tough, they were going to make a lot of balls. They were going to force us to have to play our best tennis. That's what you want in the first round. It never helps you to get a cake walk and not get pushed at all, then you just create bad habits and that doesn't translate well in the next round." -- Head coach Joey Scrivano
"It's a rivalry match. You put the NCAA tournament on top of it and that's what you want. You want matches where you feel like you are going in the deep end. Whenever we play Texas A&M, that's what type of match it is. They've had a tremendous amount of success against us the last few years. They're just a great team. We've got to be ready play and do what we do." -- Head coach Joey Scrivano
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 1 seed and No. 16-ranked Baylor advances to meet No. 2 seed and No. 20-ranked Texas A&M in the NCAA Championship second round. First serve is set for 1 p.m. (CT) at Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.
Cub Tennis, a free clinic for children who have a ticket purchased for the NCAA event under the age of 11, will begin at 12 p.m.
Follow the official Twitter and Instagram accounts of the team (@BaylorWTennis) for a behind the scenes look at the program's NCAA Championship journey.
