Baylor
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
No. 8 WT Opens NCAA Tournament vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
5/6/2021 4:04:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Bears host Islanders Friday at 5 p.m.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Nearly three years in the making, Joey Scrivano's process of rebuilding the Baylor women's tennis team got its just reward with a No. 8 overall seed in the NCAA Championship and the opportunity to host the first and second rounds this weekend at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Thirty months after signing Mel Krywoj and Alicia Herrero Linana, who both had to sit out a full year in residence to become eligible, the Bears (23-4) will face Southland Conference champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (22-4) in the first round at 5 p.m. Friday.
"This is what we play the entire season for is to get into the Dance, and we're dancing," said Scrivano, whose team is back in the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years and 15th time in his 19 years at Baylor. "So, it's exciting."
Without Krywoj and Herrero Linana, the Bears suffered through a 9-21 season in 2019, just two years removed from hosting the first and second round of the NCAA tournament in Waco.
"I think that '19 season really helped mold their character," Scrivano said. "They played that season knowing we only had four scholarship players in the lineup. We can all do the math, we're going to have to win every single match here."
Through that experience, though, the team learned the lesson that "you can have success without the scoreboard showing it," Scrivano said. "That's why this team is so mentally tough right now. That's why Jessica (Hinojosa) can come back from five match points down and win matches. I couldn't be prouder of them. I've said it a million times, but it's the truth, I'm just so pleased with their growth."
Last year, with Krywoj and Herrero Linana anchoring the top half of the lineup, Baylor got off to a 10-2 start and was ranked in the top 25 when the season was ended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This team has just been very patient," Scrivano said. "There's the cliché, trust the process. They truly had to trust the process. They went through a really challenging season in 2019 that was no fault of their own. And then, they had to repeat that with the pandemic of 2020. I know they had to be thinking, what's next? What does the future hold? But credit to them, they persevered and they stayed in the present and they kept believing that we were going to get through this."
And they did.
Surviving five 4-3 matches and several others that came down to the wire, the Bears are back in the top 10 and one of the top eight seeds in the NCAA Championship.
"At this point in the season, we feel like we are being consistent," said Herrero Linana, who is 7-2 at the No. 2 singles position. "Even though we lost against Texas (at the Big 12 tournament), our level was rising during the season. We're super ready to play and just give everything we have this next couple weeks."
Scrivano said if the players hadn't done "an amazing job between the ears" in all those close matches, "you might not even be in the tournament."
"They were able to overcome those challenging 3-all matches and persevere and get themselves to where they're a top-8 team in the country," he said. "I can't say enough about who they are as people and where they're going in life. This is going to be a springboard for what's next for players like Jess and (Angelina Shakhraichuk)."
Finishing their fifth and final seasons at Baylor, Shakhraichuk and Hinojosa are the lone holdovers from the 2017 team that lost at home to 20th-ranked Texas A&M, 4-3, in a second-round match. In the deciding match at No. 6 singles, Hinojosa lost to the Aggies' Macarena Olivares, 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-4, when she dropped back-to-back deuce games.
"It was a really tough match, for sure," Hinojosa said. "But the experience from back then, I just took that match to learn. And if I'm in that position again, I know for sure it will be different."
While Krywoj, Herrero Linana, sophomore Paula Baranano and freshman Audrey Boch-Collins will all make their NCAA Championship debuts, the Bears do have tournament experience with Hinojosa, Shakhraichuk and junior Kristina Sorokolet. They were in the lineup when Baylor knocked off North Carolina State, 4-3, before falling 4-0 to UCLA in 2018.
"We know it's a super competitive atmosphere," Hinojosa said. "Every match will be tough, but I think I can translate my experience from previous years. I had the opportunity to be in the top 10 my freshman year and host, so I'm excited to have that opportunity again. We're ready to give everything."
Alabama (15-6) faces 18th-ranked Duke (15-6) in the other semifinal at 2 p.m. Friday, with the two first-round winners squaring off at 5 p.m. Saturday for a spot in the Round of 16 in Orlando, Fla.
"We talked about it before the tournament, this team understands it's not going to be easy," Scrivano said. "We don't expect to have a bunch of creampuffs in here and we're just going to make it to Disneyland. It's going to be really hard. But, at the end of the day, we're the 8 seed. These players had to earn that. We have a great team. And I don't care who's on the other side of the net, we can beat anybody."
WACO, Texas – The No. 8-ranked Baylor women's tennis team opens its NCAA Tournament Friday at 5 p.m. at home vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Hurd Tennis Center.
The Bears are hosting three other teams and will serve as the No. 1 seed of the Waco Regional, welcoming No. 2 seed Duke, No. 3 seed Alabama and the Islanders.
The four-team regional kicks off Friday at 2 p.m. when Alabama (15-6) and Duke (12-12) go head-to-head. The winner of that match will face the victor of the Bears (23-4) and Islanders (22-4) Saturday at 5 p.m.
The winner will advance to Orlando, Fla. where all matches, Sweet 16 and beyond, will take place. Baylor was set to make the NCAA Tournament a year ago with a 10-2 start to the year before COVID-19 abruptly ended the season. As a result, Friday's match marks the first return to the national tournament since 2018, and it's Baylor's first time to host a four-team regional since 2017.
Admission for the NCAA Tournament in Waco is free for both the men's and women's regional. Specators will be limited to 50 percent capacity. In the event that weather pushes the matches indoors at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center, no spectators will be allowed.
Follow Baylor women's tennis all season long on social by following the handles @BaylorWTennis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
