Nov. 5, 2014

Championship Central | Live Chat

WACO, Texas - Baylor women's tennis sophomore Blair Shankle will travel to Flushing, N.Y., to compete in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Thursday through Sunday.

"Blair has come a long way over the past year or so," head coach Joey Scrivano said. "Through sheer hard work, she has put herself in a position to be among the best 32 players in the nation."

The 78th-ranked Shankle will face No. 20 Lorraine Guillermo of Pepperdine in the first round on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. CT.

Hosted by Columbia University, the event serves as the culmination of the fall college tennis season and will feature a 32-player singles draw.

"Her maturity and tennis IQ is up there for a sophomore," Scrivano said. "She has really embraced the areas that she needed to improve on, but of course it's an ongoing process. We're excited for the direction her game is heading."

With a record of 5-2 for the season, the Dallas, Texas, native earned an at-large selection to the event. She missed automatically qualifying, after dropping her quarterfinal match in the USTA/ITA Texas Regionals last month. However, she did defeat the region's top seed, No. 13 Breaunna Addison of Texas, during the event.

A year ago, Kiah Generette went 0-2 for the Lady Bears at the national indoor event.

For the latest information on the Baylor women's tennis team, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorWTennis.