May 9, 2015 SCHEDULE
SATURDAY
No. 28 Rice (16-8) vs. No. 49 Tulsa (16-10) - 11 a.m.
No. 9 Baylor (25-6) vs. Northwestern State (16-8) - 2 p.m.
SUNDAY
Winner of match 1 vs. Winner of match 2 - 2 p.m.
WACO, Texas -
The ninth-ranked and eighth-seeded Baylor women's tennis team will face Northwestern State in the opening round of the NCAA Championships Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center. If the Lady Bears down the Lady Demons, they will face the winner of Rice and Tulsa at 2 p.m. Sunday.
THE RUNDOWN
? Baylor, the No. 8 overall seed, is making its 11th consecutive NCAA?appearance and 18th overall in program history. BU?has been to the Round of 16 in nine of the last 10 years.
? Baylor, 25-6 overall, finished first in the league and won the Big 12 Championship title, for the program's 11th Big 12 regular season title and eighth tournament crown.
? Baylor is 12-5 in the first round of NCAA play all-time and 10-1 under head coach Joey Scrivano. BU?is hosting the first and second round action for the 10th time overall and the ninth time in the last 10 years.
? Baylor has now recorded 17 shutouts on the season with sweeps of Kansas State, No. 17 TCU and No. 16 Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship.
? Baylor is currently ranked No. 9 in the country with three ranked doubles tandems, Ema Burgic and Blair Shankle at No. 14, Leolia JeanJean and Kelly Anderson at No. 42 and Burgic and Rachel James-Baker at No. 62, and five ranked singles players: No. 22 Burgic, No. 41 Shankle, No. 80 Kiah Generette, No. 93 JeanJean and No. 113 James-Baker.
? 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 17-6 mark against ranked foes, while going a perfect 8-0 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 31 matches as a total of 20 doubles tandems have teamed together for BU.
? Earlier this week, Scrivano was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year for the sixth time and Ema Burgic won Player of the Year honors for a second time.
Scouting the Opposition
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. Baylor is 5-1 all-time against NSU. The last meeting between the two teams was March 14, 2010 in the first round of the NCAA Championships. BU won that contest 4-0.
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. BU?trails the all-time series to the Owls 12-11, but has won the last nine meetings between the two schools. The Lady Bears beat Rice, 4-1, in the second round of last season's NCAA?Championship run. The Owls have won ranked singles player in No. 32 Natalie Beazant.
The 48th-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. Baylor leads the all-time series against the Golden Hurricane, 5-0. Baylor has downed Tulsa in the second round of NCAA?Championship play in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Former Baylor All-American Lenka Broosova is an assistant coach with the Golden Hurricane. TU?has two ranked doubles tandems in No. 80 Renata Kurikova and Ksenia Laskutova and No. 82 Saana Saarteinen and Kurikova.
Quoting the Coach
"It has been a great week of recovery for our team, after the Big 12 Championship. This is the pinnacle of our season, so we are ready to go. Our team can't wait to get out there and start matches." - Head coach Joey Scrivano
Baylor staff and players will host a free clinic for children 11 years of age and younger at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Live results, a live blog and a live video stream will be available for the matches on BaylorBears.com.
Tickets for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships are available on the day of the match at the Baylor Baseball ticket office. Tickets are only $5 per day.
To stay current on all things Baylor Women's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorWTennis.
