April 23, 2015 WACO, Texas -- The eighth-ranked Baylor women's tennis team will take on ninth-seeded Kansas State at 3 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Championships.
The match will be BU's opener at the event, which takes place Thursday-Sunday, April 23 -26 in Waco, at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Tickets for the match are available for purchase online at BaylorBears.com or at the Baylor Baseball ticket office. Baylor students can get into the event for free with a valid student ID.
The Rundown
· The Baylor women enter the weekend in search of their eighth Big 12 Championship title in 10 seasons. The Lady Bears are the No. 1 seed this weekend for the 10th time in 11 years.
· Baylor, 22-6 overall, finished first in the league, after an 8-1 league record to win its 11th Big 12 regular season title and ninth in last 10 years.
· Baylor will be playing as the No. 1 seed for the 11th time overall. BU?is 24-3 when playing as No. 1 seed.
· The Hurd Tennis Center and Waco are hosting the Big 12 Championships for the fourth time. BU?has won the team title during two of the previous three hosting duties.
· Baylor is currently ranked No. 8 in the country with two ranked doubles tandems, Ema Burgic and Blair Shankle at No. 12 and Leolia JeanJean and Kelly Anderson at No. 42, and five ranked singles players: No. 22 Burgic, No. 37 Shankle, No. 82 Kiah Generette and No. 87 JeanJean and No. 125 Kiah Generette.
· The Lady Bears opened the season with 10 consecutive victories, which was the best start of head coach Joey Scrivano's tenure and the second-best in school history?(12, 2000).
· Baylor has compiled a 15-6 mark against ranked foes, while going a perfect 7-0 versus unranked teams. All of BU's losses came against top-30 opponents.
· The Bears have been searching for consistency in the doubles point, dropping the opening point in nine of its 28 matches as a total of 20 doubles tandems have teamed together for BU.
· Individually, Blair Shankle has been named the Big 12 Player of the Week twice (March 17, April 14).
· The Bears are 15-2 in Waco this season with a 10-2 record at the Hawkins Indoor and a 5-0 mark at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Baylor vs. Kansas State
Baylor hosted Kansas State in its final regular season match on Sunday with the Bears earning a 4-0 shutout over the Wildcats to clinch the Big 12 regular season title outright.
In doubles play, Theresa Van Zyl and Rachael James-Baker carded a 6-2 triumph over Amina St. Hill and Laura Hopton at the No. 3 spot to open the match. Leolia JeanJean and Kelly Anderson clinched the point with a 6-2 victory the 81st-ranked Carolina Costamagna and Palma Juhasz, on court one.
In singles action, the Bears kept the pressure on the Wildcats winning five of six first sets. Anderson picked up the first match for the Bears as she dominated Maria Panaite, 6-2, 6-2 on court five.Van Zyl followed Anderson's lead with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph over Livia Cirnu on court four. The 33rd-ranked Shankle clinched the Bears' Big 12 title-winning contest. The sophomore downed Costamagna, 6-3, 6-3 on court one to take the match and title for the Bears.
Baylor leads the overall series against Kansas State, 18-4.
Head Coach Joey Scrivano
On hosting the Championships...
"I've been doing this for a long time, and there's never been a month of May where I've been at home the whole time. I think it adds a little motivation to know that you're playing in front of your university and your community. It's obviously an advantage, and we're excited to play at home."
On his team...
"All of our returners have done a great job teaching our newcomers. Blair (Shankle) and Kiah (Generette), as well as Ema (Burgic), have stepped up and tried to lead the newcomers and rookies and just tried to teach them what it takes to be a successful teammate and be a part of a great team." To stay current on all things Baylor Women's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorWTennis.
