April 26, 2008
The semifinals of the 2008 Big 12 Conference Tennis Championships began with the second-seeded Baylor men topping third-seeded Oklahoma State, 4-1, Saturday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The top-seeded Texas men followed with a 4-0 victory over fifth-seeded Texas A&M to set up a third consecutive championship match featuring the Bears and Longhorns.
The top-seeded Baylor women also earned a spot in tomorrow's championship match blanking fourth-seeded Colorado, 4-0. The Bears will face second-seeded Texas as the Longhorns edged third-seeded Texas A&M, 4-3, in a down-to-the-wire thriller in the night cap of the tournament.
(2) BAYLOR 4, (3) OKLAHOMA STATE 1
Saturday, April 26, 2008
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
2008 Big 12 Men?â„¢s Tennis Championship
Semifinals
RECORDS: Baylor 20-8; Oklahoma State 15-9
ATTENDANCE: 630
SINGLES
1. (#8) Lars Poerschke, BU vs. (#3) Oleksandr Nedovyesov, OSU, DNF
2. (#11) Denes Lukacs, BU def. (#67) Ivan Puchkarov, OSU, 6-2, 7-5.
3. Dmytro Petrov, OSU def. David Galic, BU, 6-4, 6-3.
4. (#110) Dominik Mueller, BU def. Nathan Byrnes, OSU, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1.
5. Attila Bucko, BU vs. Anton Bobytskyi, OSU, DNF
6. Jordan Rux, BU def. Igor Sobolta, OSU, 6-2, 6-2.
DOUBLES
1. Galic/Lukacs, BU vs. (#17) Byrnes/Nedovyesov, OSU, DNF
2. (#42) Poerschke/Bucko, BU def. Petrov/Sobolta, OSU, 8-4.
3. Mueller/Rux, BU def. Bobytskyi/Puchkarov, OSU, 8-2.
FINISH ORDER:
Singles: 6, 3, 4, 2*
Doubles: 3, 2
BAYLOR HEAD COACH MATT KNOLL
?Today, I thought we hit some spots that were excellent. The doubles at No. 2 and No. 3 were fantastic. We?â„¢ve played pretty well down there over the last few matches and that?â„¢s satisfying. Oklahoma State has a great team. It?â„¢s always going to be tough to do well against them and we know its going to be tough at the end. For a minute there, I thought we were really in control, but then they battled back and it was going to be tough down the stretch. We came out with good enthusiasm. I thought that we had two great teams playing and one team was going to make a run. They (our players) showed a lot of pride and they fought back and you have to give them all of the credit.?
OKLAHOMA STATE HEAD COACH JAMES WADLEY
?Obviously, Baylor is really strong and their depth is really good. I thought that we competed hard, but we didn?â„¢t particularly play well in the doubles at No. 2 and No. 3. They got the doubles point and beating them in four out of six singles is really tough to do. You really have to be at the top of your game. They have the eighth-ranked player and the 11th-ranked player in the nation. They are just a good solid team, so it?â„¢s very difficult to come back and win four straight in singles. Our guys competed hard and it was a really good match. They were just too good for us today.?
***
(1) TEXAS 4, (5) TEXAS A&M 0
Saturday, April 26, 2008
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
2008 Big 12 Men?â„¢s Tennis Championship
Semifinals
RECORDS: Texas 20-4; Texas A&M 12-11
ATTENDANCE: 630
SINGLES
1. (#10) Dimitar Kutrovsky, UT vs. (#21) Conor Pollock, TAMU, DNF
2. (#38) Kellen Damico, UT def. Wil Spencer, TAMU, 6-1, 6-3.
3. (#46) Ed Corrie, UT vs. Austin Krajicek, TAMU, DNF
4. (#119) Luis Diaz Barriga, UT def. Chris Chirico, TAMU, 6-1, 6-2.
5. Milan Mihailovic, UT vs. Matt Bain, TAMU, DNF
6. Josh Zavala, UT def. Kayvon Karimi, TAMU, 6-4, 6-3.
DOUBLES
1. (#10) Corrie/Damico, UT vs. (#15) Krajicek/Pollock, TAMU, DNF
2. (#57) Diaz Barriga/Reyes Varela, UT def. Beatty/Spencer, TAMU, 8-5.
3. Kutrovsky/Zavala, UT def. Bain/Chirico, TAMU, 8-2.
FINISH ORDER:
Singles: 4, 6, 2*
Doubles: 2, 3
TEXAS HEAD COACH MICHAEL CENTER
?It was a nice win for us today. It?â„¢s tough to play a good team like Texas A&M three times in one season, let alone twice in one week. I was real pleased, particularly with our doubles today. To get off to a 4-0 start was a great effort by our guys.?
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH STEVE DENTON
?I thought the key to the match would be the doubles. We had a shot there at No. 2 doubles to get back into the match. We won that same kind of match last week in Austin. They (Texas) picked their level up, so give them credit for playing well. We were playing uphill the whole time. In the lockerroom, we talked about how important it was to win the first sets in a lot of these matches. It just didn?â„¢t happen today.?
?The good news is that we are going to play in the NCAA Tournament. We are a better team than we were earlier in the year. This team fights really hard. We win a lot of close matches and we?â„¢ll see where we get to go. We had a tough draw here (at the Big 12 Championship). We played a really good Texas Tech team yesterday and then a team that has a chance to win it all this year. It certainly is getting us battle tested for the NCAA Tournament.?
***
(1) BAYLOR 4, (4) COLORADO 0
Saturday, April 26, 2008
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
2008 Big 12 Women?â„¢s Tennis Championship Semifinals
RECORDS: Baylor 27-2; Colorado 12-11
ATTENDANCE: 630
SINGLES
1. (#24) Zuzana Zemenova, BU def. Monica Milewski, CU, 6-2, 6-2.
2. (#38) Taylor Ormond, BU vs. Camila Belassi, CU, DNF
3. (#17) Lenka Broosova, BU def. Gleisy Torres Torres, CU, 6-0, 6-1.
4. (#100) Jana Bielikova, BU def. Veera Nurmi, CU, 7-5, 6-4.
5. Jelena Stanivuk, BU vs. Melisa Esposito, CU, DNF
6. Zuzana Chmelarova, BU vs. Franziska Jendrian, CU, DNF
DOUBLES (Baylor wins the point)
1. (#5) Broosova/Zemenova, BU def. Belassi/Milewski, CU, 8-2.
2. (#59) Ormond/Stanivuk, BU def. Esposito/Jendrian, CU, 8-6.
3. Bielikova/Chmelarova, BU vs. Abbie Probert/Torres Torres, CU, DNF
FINISH ORDER:
Singles: 3, 1, 4*
Doubles: 1, 2
BAYLOR HEAD COACH JOEY SCRIVANO
?We are obviously happy to advance. We didn?â„¢t play our best tennis today, but hopefully tomorrow we?â„¢ll play a little better. We?â„¢re just going to try to take it one match at a time. Right now, we have to wait to see who we?â„¢re going to play. Then, we?â„¢ll start game planning on whatever matchup it might be.?
COLORADO HEAD COACH NICOLE KENNEALLY
?We were disappointed, but the players really came out and worked hard. We are really proud of them. Baylor is a good team, so give credit to them. We were definitely hoping to keep them out here longer and extend the match for sure, but we are proud of our players. I wish Baylor the best of luck tomorrow.?
***
(2) TEXAS 4, (3) TEXAS A&M 3
Saturday, April 26, 2008
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
2008 Big 12 Women?â„¢s Tennis Championship Semifinals
RECORDS: Texas 18-5; Texas A&M 16-8
ATTENDANCE: 630
SINGLES
1. (#59) Vanja Corovic, UT def. (#103) Elz?© Potgieter, TAMU, 7-5, 6-3.
2. Courtney Zauft, UT def. Christi Liles, TAMU, 6-3, 6-1.
3. Stephanie Davison, UT def. Anna Blagodarova, TAMU, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
4. Morgan Frank, TAMU def. Caroline Larsson, UT, 6-4, 6-3.
5. Maggie Mello, UT def. Tiffany Clifford, TAMU, 6-4, 7-5.
6. Stephanie Davidson, TAMU def. Sarah Lancaster, UT, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
DOUBLES (A&M wins the point)
1. (#28) Corovic/Marija Milic, UT def. (#45) Blagodarova/Clifford, TAMU, 8-3.
2. Liles/Potgieter, TAMU def. Davison/Larsson, UT, 8-6.
3. Davidson/Frank, TAMU def. Mello/Zauft, UT, 9-8 (3).
FINISH ORDER:
Singles: 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 3*
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
TEXAS HEAD COACH PATTY FENDICK-McCAIN
?It was a hard-fought match. It always is with Texas and the Aggies. I thought A&M really played fantastic today. Now, it?â„¢s about making sure everyone?â„¢s physically ready to go, because this was a hard-fought match.?
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BOBBY KLEINECKE
?I?â„¢m proud of the whole team. We came out and made a big change from the first time that we played Texas, when we gave up five out of the six first sets. We made some improvement there and we laid it all out tonight. We ask the players to come out here and leave everything out on the court, and I can?â„¢t ask any more than that. We had a lot of heart and we played hard all night long. It was different than it was before. I?â„¢m really proud of the doubles point where we had to come from behind and come away with that win. It showed a lot of guts. In singles, our goal was to just come out, give ourselves a chance and get some first sets. We got three of the six first sets and the match just shaped up this way. It?â„¢s unfortunate that Anna (Blagodarova) cramped in the first set (in the clinching match at No. 3 singles). Stephanie (Davison) is a classy competitor. I?â„¢m proud of both of them.?