By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
AUSTIN – Even with Texas leaving for the SEC after last year, it seems the Baylor women's tennis team just can't get away from the Longhorns.
 
Making the NCAA Tournament for the fifth year in a row and 19^th time in Joey Scrivano's 23 years at Baylor, the 22^nd-ranked Bears (20-5) will face No. 70 Boise State (19-5) at 10 a.m. Friday at the Texas Tennis Center in a site led by 14^th-seeded Texas (16-10).
 
"People forget that we chose to play them early in the season. We chose to play them in the (ITA) Kickoff at their place," said Scrivano, whose Bears lost to the Longhorns, 4-3, in a match that came down to a third-set tiebreaker at No. 2 singles that Liubov Kostenko lost to Meri Eszter.
 
"I think we'll be very prepared if we can get past Boise. First things first, but if we can get past them, we'll be prepared. And it won't be a lack of readiness. We'll be ready to go."
 
To make it to Saturday's 4 p.m. second-round matchup, Baylor has to get past a Boise State team that is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 15 years. The Broncos are riding a nine-match winning streak, beating UNLV, 4-2, in the Mountain West Championship after upsetting top-seeded and 47^th-ranked San Diego State, 4-3, in the semifinals.
 
Boise State is led by MWC Freshman of the Year Maya Dutta and MWC tournament MVP Zedena Safarova, who are a combined 34-6 at Nos. 1 and 2 singles.
 
Baylor's strength is its depth, with the potential to win the doubles and any of the six singles spots. Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Na Dong is 26-3 overall and 16-0 at No. 4 singles, while Zuzanna Kubacha is 12-3 at No. 3.
 
"I think that's been one of our strengths is just our depth from top to bottom," Scrivano said. "Even in doubles, we've been solid. I think our biggest weapon is just our consistency."
 
The Bears had a four-match winning streak snapped with a 4-2 loss to 15^th-ranked Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.
 
"First off, it's great to be in the tournament," Scrivano said. "We can't overlook how difficult that is to do. Just really proud of the ladies. They worked so hard to put themselves in position to get back to the NCAAs again. That being said, any team you play in the tournament, you've got to really take seriously. Boise, obviously, has had an impressive year, and we're going to have to be ready for them."
 
The Longhorns, who won back-to-back NCAA championships in 2021 and '22, will face WAC champion Grand Canyon at 1 p.m. Friday, with the two winners squaring off at 4 p.m. Saturday for a spot in the super regional round. Baylor will host the NCAA Championships May 15-18 at the Hurd Tennis Center. 


AUSTIN, Texas – After securing a bid to the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship for the fifth consecutive season, Baylor women's tennis team opens its tournament against Boise State (19-5, 7-3 Mountain West) at 10 a.m. CT on Friday at the Texas Tennis Center.
 
The Bears (20-5, 10-3 Big 12) head south to Austin for the third time as part of the NCAA Tournament, with the last two appearances from the state's capital coming in the 1999 and 2000 seasons. In those two appearances, BU tallied a 1-2 record with a win against Indiana and losses against Miami and Texas.
 
Baylor enters with a 39-21 record in the NCAA Tournament and is making its 19^th showing in the Joey Scrivano era.
 
Ranked at No. 22, Baylor has one ranked doubles team with the No. 37 pair of Cristina Tiglea and Liubov Kostenko. The No. 70-ranked Boise State roster holds no ranked doubles or singles teams heading into the tournament.
 
BU and the Mustangs will face off against one another for the first time in dual-match play.
 
A win on Friday would lead the Bears to face the winner between hosting No. 14 seed Texas (16-10, 9-6 SEC) and Grand Canyon (13-10, WAC) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.  
 
After the regular season, the Longhorns finished eighth in the SEC but won six out of their last seven matches, falling to No. 1 Texas A&M in the SEC Championship. BU and UT faced off in an instant classic to close ITA Kickoff Weekend, with Baylor nearly pulling off an upset over the host team. The 4-3 match was decided in an 8-6 third-set tiebreaker at the No. 2 singles court.
 
Out of Phoenix, the GCU Antelopes only picked up one win in the month of April to close the regular season, falling to Tarleton State, Saint Mary's and Sacramento State.
 
Live scoring and live streaming will be available online for fans to follow along during the first two rounds and admission is free to the Texas Tennis Center.
 
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