Baylor University Team Page
EVANSTON, Ill. - The 20th-ranked Baylor women's tennis team dropped a 4-2 decision against No. 1 seed and 11th-ranked Northwestern in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Championships on Saturday at the Combe Tennis Center.
"Northwestern's just tougher than us," head coach Joey Scrivano said. "They're more disciplined than we are, and it showed today. We underperformed in enough positions today to lose the match. It's disappointing, but at the same time, we are who we are. We're an undisciplined and not fully prepared team. A lot of that has to do with too many players missing the fall season. That haunted us this entire season."
With the loss, Baylor ends its season with a 17-15 record. Northwestern advances to the NCAA Round of 16 with a 20-8 record after the win. Overall, BU's postseason record sits at 27-16, with an all-time second round record of 8-3.
The Lady Bears, who had made the Round of 16 for eight straight seasons, had not lost in the second round since 2000.
To kick off doubles play, Northwestern's Alicia Barnett and Veronica Corning got past Kiah Generette and Alex Leatu, 8-2. The match extended Barnett and Corning's win streak to 13.
Belinda Niu and Kate Turvy clinched the doubles point for the Wildcats with an 8-3 decision against Jordaan Sanford and Alex Clay.
Fourth-ranked Ema Burgic and Victoria Kisialeva's match against 14th-ranked Nida Hamilton and Linda Abu Mushrefova was not finished.
BU has only lost the doubles point twice over the last 10 matches.
"We didn't perform well in a lot of positions," Scrivano said. "That's how you lose a team match. Doubles was part of that. I'm not pleased, not satisfied, and not happy any time we underperform at any position."
No. 10 Burgic kicked off singles play with a straight-set, 6-0, 6-2 decision against Corning to even up the match at 1-1. Burgic closed out the dual-match season with a 25-5 record in the No. 1 singles spot for BU.
Notching Baylor's final point of the day, Sanford swept past Niu on court 3, 6-2, 6-1. Sanford is 8-2 in her last 10 matches.
From that point on, Northwestern would post three more points to clinch the match.
Leatu, who is 6-12 on court 6, was defeated by Hamilton in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2.
Northwestern's Mushrefova got past Generette, 6-4, 6-3. At one point, Generette led her first set, 4-1, and lost five sets in a row to lose the set.
"I feel like we have a very strong nucleus with Ema, Jordaan, and Kiah," Scrivano said. "They will have to continue improve and stay hungry. If we can get some of our other players up to speed, then we're going to be a very good team next season. Today is not the end of the spring season; it's the start of next season. We have to improve desperately."
To clinch the match for the Wildcats, 57th-ranked Turvy downed Kisialeva, 6-3, 6-3 on court 2.
Maria Biryukova's match against Barnett was not completed.
Baylor trails the all-time series against Northwestern, 5-3.
Up next, Ema Burgic and Victoria Kisialeva will compete in 2013 NCAA Individual Championships from May 22-27 in Urbana, Ill.
Follow @BaylorWTennis on Twitter for updates on the team all season.
