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Nakic Becomes Latest in Top-10 Factory
11:45 A.M., WED., FEB. 29, 2012

Ninth-ranked Senior Diana Nakic became BU's fifth top-10 player since 2006.

In a program that has won seven consecutive Big 12 titles and been to the NCAA Final Four in two of the last four seasons, it’s been the player development by 10th-year head coach Joey Scrivano that has bolstered the program. More proof came Tuesday with the release of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, which has senior Diana Nakicranked No. 9 to become Scrivano’s fifth top-10 player.

Nakic’s latest accolade puts her in a group that features NCAA Singles Champion Zuzana Zemenova, Baylor all-time wins leader Lenka Broosova, All-American Zuzana Cerna and current teammate and two-time All-American Nina Secerbegovic. During their careers, Zemenova reached as high as No. 3, Broosova ranked No. 5, Cerna as high as No. 9 and Secerbegovic reached No. 10 last season. Current senior Sona Novakova nearly added to Baylor’s list of top-10 players, reaching No. 11 three different weeks last season.

Nakic, however, just keeps improving under Scrivano’s program. After earning all-NCAA doubles honors with partner Sona Novakova in 2011 and finishing the season 30-7 in singles and 24-10 in doubles, she has been even better this year. In the fall, Nakic breezed through six consecutive matches to claim the ITA Texas Regional singles title with straight-set wins over No. 10 Marta Lesniak of SMU and No. 24 Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar of Texa A&M. Since, Nakic has improved her win total to a team-leading 21-7, including a total of eight wins over ranked opponents with seven coming against the top 60.

Playing primarily in the No. 1 spot in the lineup, Nakic leads a group that also features two more ranked seniors in No. 32 Secerbegovic and No. 47 Novakova. Secerbegovic and freshman Megan Horter are also ranked in doubles, checking in at No. 46.

Stanivuk Earns Fed Cup Invite
1:51 P.M., WED., FEB. 1, 2012

Former Baylor all-Big 12 and all-NCAA tennis player Jelena Stanivuk might be finished with her collegiate career, but that hasn't stopped her from keep her game sharp. Stanivuk, who has been busy this fall and early spring serving as the student assistant for the Lady Bears, was recently chosen by her native country to play in the Fed Cup.

A native of Bosnia/Herzegovina, Stanivuk will join four of her countrymates starting Wednesday for the Europe/Africa Group I play as part of the ITF's Fed Cup in Eilat, Israel. Bosnia/Herzegovina is one of 15 nations in the group that is split into four pools.

Stanivuk and her teammates Jasmina Tinjic, Mervana Jugic Salkic, Anita Husaric and Sanja Kovac are pooled with Sweden, Hungary and Greece. Each pool will play a round robin on Feb. 1-3, followed by the winners of the four pools (A vs. C, B vs. D) facing off on Feb. 4 for a spot in the World Group II playoffs on April 21-22.

"It is extremely rewarding for us to see a player like Jelena get rewarded by her country for so much hard work and improvement in her game," Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano said. "She is proof that playing collegiate tennis is a great way to get to the pro tour. She was able to develop her game into that style while at Baylor. We are so proud of her to be in a position for her country to recognize her talent."

Stanivuk will have a chance to face some of the best players in the world, including two top-75 singles players on the Swedish squad alone. Stanivuk will play both singles and doubles for Bosnia/Herzegovina. The tournament also features two top-40 players from the host nation, Israel, including No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 37 Shahar Peer.

Stanivuk was a standout player for Baylor, earning all-Big 12 singles and doubles honors, as well as all-NCAA Tournament honors during Baylor's Final Four run in 2011. She was 26-2 in singles play and ranked No. 62 in the NCAA at the close of last season.

Women's Tennis Makes Three Two-Sport Athletes
4:43 P.M., THU., JAN. 19, 2012

Due to an injury-riddled lineup, Baylor women's tennis head coach Joey Scrivano added three current student-athletes from the BU volleyball and soccer teams.

Volleyball players Zoe Adom and Brittany Ridenour and soccer player Dana Larsen joined the Lady Bear tennis program officially on Thursday afternoon. This fall, Adom finished her redshirt sophomore season and Ridenour completed her career as a senior on the volleyball team, while Larsen recently completed her junior season. Interestingly, all three were integral parts of their teams' success with each earning bids to the NCAA tournament of their respective sport.

"We are really thankful that we have coaches and student-athletes at Baylor that truly treat our athletic department as a family," head coach Joey Scrivano said. "They are willing to go above and beyond to lend a helping hand, and we are just going to turn a difficult situation into a positive one."

The three players will be eligible to compete in Baylor's upcoming match against Prairie View A&M on Friday, Jan. 20, at the Hurd Tennis Center on campus. The match is the beginning of an eight-match home stand over the course of 16 days.

While all three possess tennis experience, Ridenour is the only one who played organized competition in high school. As a senior, Ridenour joined the tennis team at Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa, earning a spot on the varsity team. Most recently, Ridenour was on the hardcourts at Baylor taking an advanced tennis course a year ago.

Adom and Larsen each played competitively from a young age through middle school, but chose their respective current sports once they began their high school careers. Both stated they have kept tennis as a hobby on the public courts at Baylor occasionally during their college careers.

Among current two-sport student-athletes at Baylor, the volleyball program now claims a total of three, including Melissa Jones, who joined the volleyball program after four years on the Lady Bear basketball team. Along with Jones on the women's teams, Makenzie Robertson is also a two-sport student-athlete for Baylor on both the basketball and softball teams. On the men's side, freshman offensive lineman Desmine Hilliard competed in his first track meet last weekend, finishing eighth in the shot put with a toss of 48 feet, two inches at Texas A&M. Robert Griffin III and Chance Casey have also each contributed to the track team along with their regular duties on the football team.

This season, Ridenour and Adom helped lead the volleyball team to an 18-15 record, including the program's fourth-ever bid into the NCAA tournament and second in the last three seasons. Larsen, meanwhile, was the leading scorer for the Baylor soccer team that earned a spot in the NCAA tournament and a first-round victory over Texas State, the first in program history.

Academic All-Star for the Baylor-Texas Men's Game
2:34 P.M., THU., JAN. 19, 2012

Jacob Neubert, a native of Waco, TX is a Junior on the Baylor Basketball team. Jacob has a 3.79 GPA in Business.