May 18, 2006

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Continuing its run for an NCAA championship, Baylor's No. 5 women's tennis team defeated No. 12 Vanderbilt Thursday afternoon in Palo Alto, Calif. in the tournament's round of 16. The win places Baylor in the quarterfinals where the Bears will play either Florida or UCLA at 8 p.m. CDT Friday night. This year is the first for Baylor's program to advance past the round of 16. Baylor extended its record to 28-3 on the season, having won 17-straight matches since March 14.

Baylor entered doubles looking to claim the point after losing against Vanderbilt's doubles teams in February. The Bears claimed the point with wins on courts two and one before court three could finish. Klara Zrustova and Iva Mihaylova defeated Caroline Ferrell and Courtney Taylor 8-4 on court two to help inch the Bear's closer to their first point. Zuzana Cerna and Daniela Covello stormed onto the court one and picked up a 4-1 lead early. But Vanderbilt's Amanda Fish and Take Bertrand rallied to take a 6-5 lead. Baylor brought the match back to an 8-8 and clinched the tie-breaker 7-5 for an overall 9-8 win. Baylor claimed the doubles point and moved to the south courts to start singles play.

Singles started off shaky for Baylor as Vanderbilt came out ready to win. But No. 16 Cerna extended Baylor's lead to 2-0 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over No. 43 Bertrand on court two. The Commodores picked up their first win on court three as Taylor defeated Covello. The two battled hard but Vanderbilt claimed the match 6-4, 6-3. Eventually Vanderbilt tied the match as Ulery bested No. 95 Zrustova 6-2, 6-3.

But Baylor showed their determination to become the program's first-ever team to advance to the quarterfinals. Krchnakova lit up Maggie Yahner on court six and tallied a 7-5, 6-3 win on court six, bringing the Bears within one point for the overall victory. Iva Mihaylova had tied up her second set on court five leading Ferrell 6-2, 5-5 when No. 6 Zuzana Zemenova defeated No. 17 Fish on court one. Zemenova played solid tennis throughout the match and came up with a 6-3, 6-4 win over the Commodore.

"It's a great win for us. Vanderbilt has been a thorn in our side for years now. To beat them in the NCAA tournament is huge for our program," said head coach Joey Scrivano.

"They play great doubles so that put a lot of pressure on us. We are a discipline team and it can come down to a couple of points. We were fortunate to win doubles. Tennis is an interesting game. You can play really well and still lose a close match, or you can not play your best tennis and still win. That's what happened for us today. We didn't play our best tennis but we won. Great teams, they don't have to play well and still win matches."

Baylor will face the winner of today's other round of 16 match between fourth-seeded Florida and UCLA. The match is scheduled for 8 p.m. CDT and live scores will be posted at www.baylorbears.com.

#5 Baylor, 4 def. #12 Vanderbilt, 2
May 18, 2006 - 5 p.m. CDT
NCAA Round of 16
Palo Alto, Calif.

Singles
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 4, 6, 1*
1. #6 Zuzana Zemenova (BU) def. #17 Amanda Fish (Van.) 6-3, 6-4
2. #16 Zuzana Cerna (BU) def. #43 Take Bertrand (Van.) 7-5, 6-2
3. Amanda Taylor (Van.) def. Daniela Covello (BU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Courtney Ulery (Van.) def. #95 Klara Zrustova (BU) 6-2. 6-3
5. Iva Mihaylova (BU) vs. Caroline Ferrell (Van.) DNF
6. Zuzana Krchnakova (BU) def. Maggie Yahner (Van.) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles
Order of Finish: 2, 1
1. Covello/Cerna (BU) def. Bertrand/Fish (Van.) 9-8(5)
2. Zrustova/Mihaylova (BU) def. Ferrell/Taylor (Van.) 8-4
3. Zemenova/Krchnakova (BU) vs. Ulery/Liberty Sveke DNF