April 28, 2015 PRINTABLE BRACKET | INTERACTIVE BRACKET
WACO, Texas - The eighth-ranked and eight-seeded Baylor women's tennis team will host first and second round action of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship on May 9-10, the NCAA announced Tuesday.
"It's exciting that we are hosting and the draw looks really good for us," head coach Joey Scrivano said. "Coming out as an eight-seed, all the hard work during the regular season paid off and we got a good seed."
Making its 11th consecutive appearance and 18th overall in the NCAA Championships, Baylor will be joined by its first-round opponent, Northwestern State, along with Rice and Tulsa. BU earned is highest seed since being No. 5 in 2011.
Baylor is hosting the opening rounds of the NCAA Championships for the ninth time in the last 10 years and the 10th time overall. Baylor is 18-0 when playing NCAA matches at home and 16-0 under Scrivano.
The Lady Bears will hit the court Saturday at 2 p.m., just after the conclusion of the 11 a.m. match between Rice and Tulsa. The winners of those two matches will play on Sunday at 2 p.m. for a chance to advance to the Round of 16 at the finals site in Waco.
Scrivano will be making his 14th overall trip to the NCAA tournament as a head coach, including his 12th at the helm of the Baylor program. The Lady Bears have made the Round of 16 in nine of the last ten seasons, including five appearances in the Elite Eight (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) and two Final Four berths in 2008 and 2011.
BU was the Big 12 regular season champion for the 11th time in 2015. The Lady Bears are currently 25-6 after taking down No. 16 Texas Tech, 4-0, to claim their eighth Big 12 Championship title Sunday. With that victory, BU was guaranteed an automatic berth in the NCAA field.
"Two of the last three years, getting to the final site was a challenge," Scrivano said. "This year, for us to be sitting comfortably at a high seed, says a lot about the hard work of our players. It paid off."
BU's 22nd-ranked Ema Burgic sits at the top of the lineup with a 14-4 mark in dual-match play. Ranked No. 37, Blair Shankle holds a 20-2 record with an eleven-match winning streak. No. 82 Kiah Generette, No. 87 Leolia JeanJean and No. 125 Rachael James-Baker round out the rankings for the Bears.
Northwestern State is coming off a 4-2 victory over Nicholls State that secured a Southland Conference Women's Tennis Tournament championship. The Lady Demons went 16-8 on the season, and claimed their third NCAA berth in the past six years.
No. 28 Rice enters the event with a 16-8 record and most recently defeated No. 60 Marshall, 4-1, in the Conference USA Tennis Championships. The Lady Bears have defeated the Owls twice this season.
The 46th-ranked Tulsa Golden Hurricane (16-10) earned an automatic berth to the event, after topping Houston, 4-3, to claim the American Athletic Conference Championship title. BU also beat Tulsa, 4-0, on Feb. 1 in Waco.
"The good news is two of the three teams we know very well - Rice and Tulsa," Scrivano said. "But we will have to do some homework on Northwestern State for sure."
Baylor is 29-17 all-time in NCAA action and 26-11 under Scrivano.
To stay current on all things Baylor Women's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorWTennis.
NCAA TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, May 9
No. 28 Rice (16-8) vs. No. 46 Tulsa (16-10) - 11 a.m.
No. 2 Baylor (25-6) vs. Northwestern State (16-8) - 2 p.m.
SUNDAY, May 10
Winner of match 1 vs. Winner of match 2 - 2 p.m.
