Baylor will face the USC/Vanderbilt winner in the Round of 16 in Athens, Ga.
WACO – Baylor’s 12th-seeded women’s tennis team clinched a berth to the Round of 16 with a 4-0 shutout win over No. 25 Tulsa in the NCAA Championship Second Round on Saturday in Waco, Texas.
With the win, Baylor (25-7) advances to the Round of 16 for the eighth consecutive year, and will face the winner of Saturday’s match between Vanderbilt and No. 5 USC in Athens, Ga., on May 17. The Lady Bears, hosting the First and Second Rounds, completed their second straight shutout with doubles wins on Courts 1 and 3, and singles wins on Courts 1, 2 and 6 to defeat Tulsa (23-4).
“We are still not playing our best, I am convinced, but we competed hard and found a way to win today,” head coach Joey Scrivano said. “You can’t put a price tag on experience though. We’re going to have to keep leaning on experience as we go into Athens, Ga. We’re going to go in there and pull every trick out the book to try to make another run.”
Baylor got the job done in doubles for the second consecutive match and fifth in the last six times out. The Lady Bears’ 78th-ranked duo of Nina Secerbegovic and Megan Horter earned the first win of the day, taking down the 68th-ranked pair of Ewa Szatkowska and Anastasia Erofeeva 8-2. BU then got its point-clinching win from Court 3, where Sona Novakova and Nicole Kosakowski defeated Michelle Farley and Maria Sant’Anna 8-6.
In singles, the exact opposite three in the lineup gathered wins on Saturday as compared to the first-round win over Oral Roberts. Against Tulsa, 23rd-ranked senior Secerbegovic came out firing and overpowered No. 49 Anastasia Erofeeva 6-2, 6-0 on Court 1.
The Lady Bears then added two more wins with a victory from 16th-ranked senior Nakic on Court 2 over Tulsa’s 64th-ranked Samantha Vickers, 6-4, 6-1, and from Horter on Court 6 over Bonny Davidson, 6-2, 6-1.
Baylor is now 14-7 overall against ranked opponents and 7-7 against the top 25. The win also gives Baylor 25 for the season, marking the fifth consecutive year with at least that many.
Baylor will await the winner of No. 5 USC and Vanderbilt in the Round of 16. The Lady Bears and their next opponent will meet on May 17 at noon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
Tulsa vs Baylor
May 12, 2012 at Waco, Texas
(Hurd Tennis Center)
#12 Baylor 4, #25 Tulsa 0
Singles competition
1. #23 Nina Secerbegovic (BU) def. #49 Anastasia Erofeeva (TULSA) 6-2, 6-0
2. #16 Diana Nakic (BU) def. #64 Samantha Vickers (TULSA) 6-4, 6-1
3. #56 Sona Novakova (BU) vs. Ewa Szatkowska (TULSA) 4-6, 6-2, 1-2, unfinished
4. Ema Burgic (BU) vs. Isaura Enrique (TULSA) 6-4, 2-3, unfinished
5. Jordaan Sanford (BU) vs. Michelle Farley (TULSA) 6-4, 3-6, 0-0, unfinished
6. Megan Horter (BU) def. Bonny Davidson (TULSA) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #78 Nina Secerbegovic/Megan Horter (BU) def. #68 Ewa Szatkowska/Anastasia Erofeeva (TULSA) 8-2
2. Diana Nakic/Ema Burgic (BU) vs. Samantha Vickers/Bonny Davidson (TULSA) 4-5, unfinished
3. Sona Novakova/Nicole Kosakowski (BU) def. Michelle Farley/Maria Sant’Anna (TULSA) 8-6
Match Notes:
Tulsa 23-4; National ranking #25
Baylor 25-7; National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (1,6,2)