Oct. 26, 2010
Singles Draw | Doubles Draw | Video Recap 
WACO, Texas - After five consecutive days of tennis, Baylor's Sona Novakova took home the singles title, then joined forces with Nina Secerbegovic to win the doubles title at the USTA/ITA Texas Regional on Tuesday at the Baylor Tennis Center.
Novakova and SMU's Marta Lesniak faced off in the singles and doubles finales. Novakova defeated Lesniak in the singles final, then teamed with Secerbegovic to beat Lesniak and partner Heather Steinbauer in the doubles final.
"Sona had a great week of tennis, and for her to win both titles is really outstanding," head coach Joey Scrivano said. "Its great to see a player peak at the right time, and that's what she did today in the final. In doubles, it was great to see Sona and Nina respond in a really tough match."
Novakova dominated the singles match from the opening serve against SMU's Lesniak. The Baylor junior took the first 6-1, then followed that with a 6-2 second set. The win earned Novakova an automatic bid into the field at the USTA/ITA Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.
The doubles matched looked to be going the same direction early for the Baylor duo. Novakova and Secerbegovic opened up a 7-2 lead in a race to eight against the formidable duo of Lesniak and Steinbauer. But, the SMU pair fought their way back, breaking the BU serve three consecutive times to tie the match at 7-7. With the match tied at 8-8, BU grabbed a 4-3 tie-break lead with a cross-court winner by Secerbegovic, then held the lead with a perfectly placed lob shot by Novakova. Baylor went on to win the match 9-8(7-5).
Earlier in the day, Novakova and Secerbegovic played their way into the final with SMU by beating UT's duo of Krista Damico and Aeriel Ellis in the semifinals. The Bears took down the Longhorns with an 8-6 win.
Secerbegovic and Novakova will each play in the singles and doubles at the USTA/ITA Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y. from Nov. 4-7. Baylor's remaining players will compete in the HEB Baylor Invitational, hosted at the Baylor Tennis Center, from Nov. 5-7.
