Jan. 19, 2007

WACO, Texas - Baylor's nationally ranked No. 6 women's tennis team travels to Houston, Texas for its first spring match against Rice Sat., Jan. 20. Baylor will take on the Owls at the Jewish Community Center at 9:30 a.m. The event was originally scheduled to be played in Waco as the second match of Saturday's double-header. The 11 a.m. UT-Arlington match has been cancelled while the Rice match has been relocated to indoor facilities in Houston due to inclement weather.

The Bears' No. 6 team ranking is the highest initial spring ranking in program history. Baylor also landed four individuals on the Fila/ITA singles polls, No. 21 Zuzana Zemenova, No. 37 Lenka Broosova, No. 38 Jessica Zok, and No. 91 Zuzana Cerna.

Baylor's squad returns four letterwinners who led the 2006 team to record-setting success. Seniors Cerna, Iva Mihaylova, Klara Zrustova and junior Zemenova look to build on last year's success and take the program to the next level.

The Bears also premier four newcomers looking to make an immediate impact for Baylor, sophomore transfer Jana Bielikova and freshmen Broosova, Zuzana Chmelarova, and Zok.

Against Rice, Baylor is 4-12 overall though the Bears won the last two meetings in 1996 and 2002. Head coach Joey Scrivano is 1-0 against Rice in his career, coaching the Bears' 2002 victory.

Rice enters the match with seven returning letterwinners though not a senior on the roster. None of the Owls are ranked nationally.

Results from the match will be available at www.baylorbears.com.