MANHATTAN, Kan. – For the second straight season, Kansas State’s Petra Niedermayerova will continue her season, as she was selected on Wednesday afternoon as one of the 64 singles players that will compete in the 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championships in Athens, Ga., May 23-28 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Niedermayerova is the second player in school history to make consecutive appearances in the national singles championship, joining Alena Jecminkova who was a three-time participant from 2000-02. Niedermayerova was one of seven players from the Big 12 to be selected into this year’s field.
“I’m really excited for Petra and for K-State as she represents our school in the NCAA Singles Championships,” said head coach Steve Bietau. “There are two things that are different from last year for Petra. First, she is a better player now than she was last year at this time. Secondly, there was some nervousness for her last year, and there will be some this year, but she has a better idea of what to expect and will be better prepared to face the challenge ahead of her.”
Niedermayerova, one of the 50 at-large selections along with 14 automatic qualifiers to the field, continued to lead the Wildcats from the top of the singles lineup this season. Ranked No. 27 in the Campbell/ITA national singles rankings as of April 24, Niedermayerova tied for the team lead this spring with a 16-6 record which included a career-high winning streak of nine straight matches from Jan. 14-March 9. The nine-match winning streak surpassed a pair of seven-match streaks from last spring.
In the 2011-12 season, she owns an overall record of 22-12 (.647) and is 7-11 against ranked opponents. Her 22 wins this season tie her for 10th in school history for wins in a season. Last season, Niedermayerova finished with a 24-10 record to notch the second-highest win total by a freshman in school history. In her first career appearance in the NCAA Singles Championships last season, Niedermayerova was defeated by Anouk Tigu of Arkansas in straight sets in the first round.
Niedermayerova, the 2011 Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year, registered a successful 2011 fall campaign earlier this season as she advanced to the semifinals of the ITA/Riviera Women’s All-American Championships in Los Angeles and qualified for the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y. She was the first Wildcat since Karina Kuregian in 1995 to qualify for the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.
At the ITA/Riviera Women’s All-American Championships, Niedermayerova carded three wins over opponents ranked in the top-30 of the national singles rankings, including a straight set win over No. 5 and 2010 SEC Player of the Year Lauren Embree of Florida in the second round.
For her career, Niedermayerova is 46-22 (.676) and is 14-13 against ITA ranked foes. Niedermayerova’s career singles winning percentage of .676 currently ranks third in school history. The product of Brno, Czech Republic, owns a 35-10 career mark in dual matches including a Big 12 mark of 15-5 from the number one position.
Niedermayerova is the fourth player in school history to reach the NCAA Championship field in singles action. K-State has advanced two student-athletes to at least the round of 32, as Yana Dorodnova reached the quarterfinals during the 1998 season and Jecminkova advanced at the 2002 event.
The 2012 NCAA Division I singles championship draw will be announced on either May 21 or 22 depending on the results of the team championship.
(Story courtesy of KStateSports.com)
