April 12, 2016 WACO, Texas -- The 45th-ranked Baylor women's tennis team will host a doubleheader against Incarnate Word and No. 41 Rice Wednesday. The Bears (12-13) will take on Incarnate Word at 10 a.m. followed by Rice at 5 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center.
"Tomorrow is going to be a real test of our team's competitiveness and willingness to learn from the poor performance that we had against Texas Tech," head coach Joey Scrivano said. "We need to step up and show that we have some character and fight on this team."
BU dropped its last match against the 12th-ranked Red Raiders Sunday, but has won seven of its last nine matches. Baylor holds a 9-7 record at home this season.
The Bears are led by the 10th-ranked duo of Kiah Generette and Blair Shankle, who have won their last six matches. Shankle is also ranked No. 89 in singles.
Incarnate Word is 3-19 overall this season. The Cardinals are coming off a 7-0 loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The match against Baylor will be their last of the season.
"UIW is an upcoming team that is improving each year," Scrivano added. "They will create some challenges for us."
Against Incarnate Word, Baylor is 1-0. The only time the two teams have met previously was a 7-0 BU win in February of last year.
Rice is ranked No. 41 and holds a 9-8 record on the season. The Owls are 3-1 on the road. In singles, Katherine Ip holds the No. 85 spot.
"Rice has a very strong program and they are coming off a big win over Tulsa," Scrivano said. "We have had some incredibly tough matches with them over the years and we expect the same type of match tomorrow."
The all-time record between Baylor and Rice sits at an even 12-12. The Bears won all three matches against the Owls in 2015, including a 4-2 in the second round of the NCAA Championships. Overall, BU has won the last 10 meetings in the series.
Admission to all home regular season matches is free.
Live results and a live video stream will be available at BaylorBears.com for both of the matches with a live blog available as well during the Rice match.
Prior to the Rice contest, the team will host a session of the Baylor Cub Tennis Program at 4 p.m. Children 11-years-old and under can come to the Hurd Tennis Center to receive free basic tennis instruction. After this weekend's action, the Bears will return to Big 12 action by hosting Iowa State at 5 p.m. on Friday and West Virginia at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday for Senior Day.
Follow the official Twitter and Instagram accounts of the team: @BaylorWTennis for an inside look with results, photos and stories.
