April 15, 2009
Head Coach Kleinecke
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - No. 5 Baylor remained undefeated and in sole possession of first place in the Big 12 Conference after topping Texas A&M, 6-1, in front of 536 tonight at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Aggies, who had won seven consecutive Big 12 matches and were hoping to move into a tie for first place with a victory in their final regular season home match, drop to 11-9 overall and 7-2 in the conference.
Baylor, which has won or shared the Big 12 regular season title in each of the last five years, ran its winning streak to 11 matches and improved to 17-4 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12.
"I'm very proud of the girls," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "They went after this match to win it. From the start of the doubles all the way through the end of the singles, in their mind, they were playing to win.
"We were the underdogs tonight. (Baylor) is an excellent team, at least equal to the best team we've played all year. I just feel like we lost to a better team tonight."
Baylor continued its streak of winning the doubles point in each of its Big 12 matches by winning on two of three courts. The eighth-ranked team of Csilla Borsanyi and Lenka Broosova was first off after disposing of A&M's Janelle Cuthbertson and Christi Liles, 8-2, at the No. 1 line.
Elzé Potgieter evened the race for the doubles point, winning their eighth match in their last nine outings and improving to 14-3 overall with an 8-3 victory over Nina Secerbegovic and Kasia Siwosz at No. 3.
The No. 2 court was a tightly contest affair as the Aggie duo of Stephanie Davidson and Morgan Frank stayed within two games throughout the match against 64th-ranked Taylor Ormond and Jelena Stanivuk. Baylor however held onto the lead and an 8-6 victory to clinch the point.
"I thought (Olivier and Potgieter) played an excellent doubles match," Kleinecke said. "They played aggressive. They were energetic. They went for it. At No. 2, same thing. We were up 1-0 and two different game points to go up 2-0, and that was a crucial time in that match. From then on, when they got that, we were down one and two games the entire match until the end. We made a fight of it, but we were fighting an uphill battle."
The Lady Bears began singles by winning the first set on all six courts and went on to win five of those matches in straight sets. Stanivuk, ranked No. 44 in the nation in singles, gave the Lady Bears a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Liles at No. 4.
Secerbegovic followed with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Lauren Santacroce at No. 5, and 64th-ranked Borsanyi clinched the winning point with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Cuthbertson at No. 4.
Karolina Filipiak kept the shutout in place with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Olivier at No. 6 before Potgieter put the Aggies on the scoreboard with a come-from-behind 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (11-9) victory over 46th-ranked Ormond at No. 1. Potgieter, who had let a 10-point super tiebreaker slip away at Notre Dame in her most recent outing, trailed Ormond, 9-6, before rallying for five straight points to win the match. It was Ormond's first loss in Big 12 play.
"Elzé is playing great people every time out there," Kleinecke said. "She tightened up a little bit at the Notre Dame match, and I don't think she tightened up tonight. She went for her shots. That was the only way she was going to win was to go for her shots. I'm very proud of what she has shown us the last couple of matches. She can play with anybody. It's just a matter of her being able to do that day in and day out."
No. 31 Broosova, a quarterfinalist in last year's NCAA Singles Championship, then capped the match by handing Frank her first loss in nine Big 12 matches, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2.
"Baylor is a good team," Kleinecke said. "That doesn't mean that we are satisfied. What I think happened tonight is that our weaknesses were exploited, and that tells them what they have to go back and work on to make themselves better players. (Baylor) is not unbeatable, but we have to be on in order to (win)."
A&M closes out the regular season schedule at Kansas State and Kansas, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The Big 12 Tennis Championships will be held April 23-26 at Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Okla.
"We've got two conference matches left and we are still playing for a lot," Kleinecke said. "We are playing for the NCAA bid. We are playing for a lot there, a seed, everything. Position in the conference tournament, so there is still a lot up for grabs. Next match is Kansas State. They had a win over Nebraska. We felt Nebraska was one of the top four or five teams in the conference, and Kansas State beat them the other day. This isn't going to be an easy road trip and we haven't played well away from home, so this is important that we take this same energy and same fight and bring it up to Kansas."
(5) Baylor 6, (35) Texas A&M 1
April 15, 2009
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
Attendance: 536
Singles
1. Elzé Potgieter (A&M) def. (46) Taylor Ormond (BU), 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (9)
2. (31) Lenka Broosova (BU) def. Morgan Frank (A&M), 6-4, 6-2
3. (44) Jelena Stanivuk (BU) def. Christi Liles (A&M), 6-1, 6-0
4. (64) Csilla Borsanyi (BU) def. Janelle Cuthbertson (A&M), 6-1, 6-0
5. Nina Secerbegovic (BU) def. Lauren Santacroce (A&M), 6-3, 6-0
6. Karolina Filipiak (BU) def. Sheri Olivier (A&M), 6-4, 6-1
Doubles (Baylor wins the point)
1. (8) Borsanyi/Broosova (BU) def. Cuthbertson/Liles (A&M), 8-2
2. (64) Ormond/Stanivuk (BU) def. Stephanie Davidson/Frank (A&M), 8-6
3. Olivier/Potgieter (A&M) def. Secerbegovic/Kasia Siwosz (BU), 8-3
Order of finish:
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 3, 5, 4*, 6, 1, 2
*Clinched match
Team records:
Texas A&M: 11-9, 7-2 Big 12
Baylor: 17-4, 8-0 Big 12
2009 NCAA Tennis Championships: Texas A&M will host the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Championships, May 14-25, at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas. Tickets can be purchased online at 12ManFoundation.com or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.