Men's Tennis Gears Up For Spring Schedule
1/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 12, 2010
WACO, Texas - After a strong showing in the 2009 fall season, the sixth-ranked Baylor men's tennis team will begin its 2010 spring season with selected athletes traveling to Los Angeles, Calif. on Friday, Jan. 15 for the Sherwood Invitational. The Bears return six letterwinners off a 2009 squad that finished the season with 26-6 record and a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals.
Head coach Matt Knoll, whose team has produced a final ranking no lower than eighth over the past eight years, has again in his 14th season as Baylor's coach, assembled one of the toughest tennis schedules in the nation.
"Playing the most difficult schedule in the country really fits with the philosophy of our whole program that we are trying to push ourselves, stretch ourselves every day," coach Matt Knoll said. "I think part of the process along with practicing hard and being in great shape is playing the best teams we can play."
The Bears have 21 known dual match opponents, not counting the ITA National Team Indoor Championships and one match in ITA Qualifying, where their opponents are yet to be determined. In those 21 matches the team will face 14 teams ranked in this season's first ITA rankings. Within those 14 teams, there are five top-10 squads (No. 2 Virginia, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 UCLA, No. 8 Texas, and No. 9 Stanford) and nine top-25 squads (No. 11 Florida, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 17 Pepperdine and No. 25 Oklahoma State).
Baylor's schedule includes the runner-up (Ohio State), three national semifinalists (Texas, UCLA), and four quarterfinalists (Virginia) from last year's NCAA team championships.
"When we schedule we really try to seek out the best teams that are the most competitive," Knoll said. "We certainly are not looking at this as an opportunity to go undefeated. We are absolutely going to improve over the course of the year and we feel it is going to help us play our best tennis in the NCAA Tournament."
Following the Sherwood Invitational Baylor will begin its 2010 dual match campaign by playing six matches at the Baylor Tennis Center beginning with a contest against Louisiana-Lafayette on Jan. 22 and then a match against 11th-ranked Florida on Jan. 24.
On Jan. 30, Baylor will begin qualifying for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a match against No. 60 Iowa. Depending on the outcome of that match the Bears will battle either TCU or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Jan. 31.
The home stand will conclude with a double-header on Feb. 3 against SMU followed up by a night cap with UT-Pan American. After that match the Bears will take a 10-day break before traveling to Charlottesville, Va. for their first away match of the season in the ITA National Team Indoors, Feb. 13-15.
Baylor will return to action in Waco on Feb. 21, with another double-header, starting with a battle versus UT-Arlington and then concluding with a contest against Prairie View A&M. On Feb. 24, the Bears will welcome No. 3 Ohio State to the Baylor Tennis Center for their first of five matches against teams currently ranked in the top 10.
To end the month of February, selected student athletes will take part in the ITF Futures tournament in McAllen on Feb. 26-28.
The team will have a two week gap between the Ohio State match and its next match on March 11 against No. 4 UCLA in Los Angeles. That matches kicks off a stretch for the Bears where they will play three of their next four on the road and all four against ranked opposition. Baylor will travel from Los Angeles to Malibu, Calif., for a March 13 battle with No. 17 Pepperdine.
Old Southwest Conference foe, No. 38 TCU comes to Waco, March 17, in a one match home stand for the Bears before they head back out on the road to face No. 2 Virginia on March 21. Baylor will then return home for a double-header with Abilene Christian and St. Edward's on March 27.
The Bears will close out March by playing the fourth annual HP Cup against ninth-ranked Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., on March 30.
The Bears will begin Big 12 play in search of a ninth straight Big 12 regular season title by traveling to No. 12 Texas A&M on April 7. Baylor will then host No. 8 Texas and No. 65 Nebraska on April 10 and 11, respectively. However, Baylor will then travel north for matches against No. 44 Oklahoma and No. 25 Oklahoma State on April 16 and 18. The Bears' final Big 12 match will be at home against Texas Tech on April 24.
"I think when you look ahead to the Big 12 season this maybe the strongest year the Big 12 has had," Knoll said. "I look around the conference and I feel like a lot of teams are up. We know we are going to have our hands full in the Big 12 season."
To begin their postseason run the Bears will travel to Austin to take part in the Big 12 Championships, April 30- May 2. Baylor has won three straight conference championship titles and seven overall.
Following the conference championships, first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament will take place May 15-16, in a location to be determined. Then the next four rounds of the tournament will be held in Athens, Ga., May 21-25.
