Jan. 4, 2008
Saturday marks the beginning of another women's tennis season as No. 13 Baylor opens its 2008 campaign in Honolulu, Hawai'i, with an 11:00 a.m. match against BYU. While on the islands, Baylor will also play Hawaii on Sunday.
After a successful fall season, Baylor captured four of the top five spots in the ITA Southwest Regional Rankings. Senior and 2005 NCAA National Champion Zuzana Zemenova earned the highest singles ranking at No. 2 after finishing the fall season with a 6-2 mark. She was joined by Lenka Broosova (No. 3), Taylor Ormond (No. 4) and Jana Bielikova (No. 5). Freshman Karolina Filipiak also appeared on the regional rankings, earning the No. 8 spot.
Along with four of the top five spots in the singles rankings, Broosova and Zemenova earned the top spot in the region's doubles rankings.
Last season head coach Joey Scrivano's squad opened at home against Rice, earning a 7-0 victory en route to a 24-7 record and a trip to the NCAA Championhip. Baylor has opened each of its last three seasons with a victory, earning wins over Southern Methodist (2006; 6-1) and Florida State (2005; 5-2). The Bears last dropped a season-opener in 2004, falling to 12th-ranked Vanderbilt in Scrivano's second year at the helm.
Saturday's match will mark the fourth time Baylor and BYU have met, with the Bears holding a 3-0 record. Their first meeting came in 2005 when the Bears bested the Cougars in the second round of the NCAA Regionals, 4-1. The last two meetings between Baylor and BYU have come at the Indoor Team Championships in Madison, Wis. Both matches resulted in Baylor victories; both were 5-2 decisions.
The Bears will also take to the courts on Sunday for a match against Hawaii. The two teams have met just once before as Baylor earned a 7-0 win on the road. Sunday's contest against the Wahine will be the first under Scrivano.
Baylor is 100-41 (.709) under Scrivano since he took over in 2003. Following a two-year building process in which the Bears posted a 24-24 record, Scrivano has led Baylor to a 76-17 record over the past three seasons, including three Big 12 Conference championships and two tournament championships.
