Lady Bears record 4-1 victory over Oklahoma State on Sunday.
Baylor University Team Page
FORT WORTH, Texas - For the seventh time overall and the first time since 2011, the Baylor women's tennis team won the Big 12 Championship crown with a 4-1 victory over No. 25 Oklahoma State on Sunday at the Bayard H. Tennis Center.
The 14th-ranked Lady Bears are now 24-6 on the season and have won 13 consecutive matches, including 11 straight over ranked opponents.
BU opened the contest taking the doubles point with relative ease.
First, Alex Clay and Blair Shankle improved to 11-0 on the season with an 8-3 win over Maria Alvarez and Karyn Guttormsen at the No. 3 spot. Victoria Kisialeva and Jordaan Sanford clinched the point for BU by winning their third straight match with an 8-5 victory over Viktoriya Lushkova and Katarina Adamovic on court 1.
In singles action, Clay continued to play well as she dispatched of Alvarez, 6-3, 6-2 at the bottom of the lineup.
OSU got it lone point of the day as Carla Tur Mari downed Alex Leatu, 6-1, 6-4, at the No. 5 spot.
The Lady Bears slammed the door from there as the 83rd-ranked Ema Burgic bested Megan McCray, 7-6(4), 6-2 on court 2. The BU junior had trailed 5-2 in the opening set, before rallying to win in the tiebreaker.
To clinch the match, the freshman Shankle gutted out a 6-2, 7-6(3) triumph on court 4. With the second-set tiebreaker tied 2-2, she won five of the next six points to take the match.
Burgic was named the event's Most Outstanding Player, after she compiled a 3-0 singles record and 1-0 mark in doubles.
The loss dropped Oklahoma State to 15-8 on the season.
HIGHLIGHTS
Baylor won its seventh Big 12 postseason title and the 17th conference crown for the program (10 regular season).
Baylor swept the regular-season title and the postseason title for the seventh time.
Baylor improved to 31-11 all-time in Big Championships play and 26-5 under Scrivano.
BU now has a 7-2 record in the Championship finale and is 7-1 under Scrivano.
Baylor now leads the all-time series vs. OSU, 19-5.
Baylor is 23-0 when winning the doubles point this season.
Burgic has won eight straight singles matches.
Alex Clay and Blair Shankle won their 11th straight doubles match.
STAT OF THE MATCH
7 - the number times the BU has won both the Big 12 regular season and postseason titles.
TOP QUOTE #1
"I am just proud of these girls. It all starts with your seniors. Their leadership really made a difference. I think that was the difference the last couple of years. We just didn't have that strength of leadership all the way through our team. This year our seniors were incredible. They just pulled the whole team up. That's where it all starts." - head coach Joey Scrivano on the match
TOP QUOTE #2
"I have a lot of confidence in hard work and this team has put in the work. When a team is prepared the championships can come, but without preparation you can't win these things. This team has put a tremendous amount of work in. They have worked as hard as any team I have ever coached. The result takes care of itself from there." - Scrivano on confidence in his team
TOP QUOTE #3
"Give me a couple days to enjoy this, but absolutely we are ready. If you look when we have made runs in the NCAAs, we have gone on this kind of tear. I told this team at the start of the season, I thought we could have one of the best seasons ever and it is starting to look that way. We are excited for the NCAAs and we are really excited to be hosting. I would be shocked if we didn't host. We have earned it." - Scrivano on the NCAA Championships
TOP TWEET
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will find out its NCAA fate on Tuesday with the NCAA Selection Show at 4:30 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
To stay current on all things Baylor Women's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorWTennis.
