The Baylor tennis dynasty begins its spring schedule in earnest this weekend, looking to continue a run that has seen the Bears and Lady Bears combine for 37 Big 12 trophies and 24 Sweet 16 appearances over the last 15 years.
The No. 15-ranked Baylor women open the season by hosting No. 5 Georgia on Sunday. Head coach Joey Scrivano’s team won both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles a year ago — the seventh such sweep in program history — and advanced to the NCAA’s Sweet 16. This year’s Lady Bear lineup includes four ranked singles players, led by Blair Shankle (No. 49).
The men, too, are coming off a sweep of both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles — the eighth time they’ve accomplished that feat. Head coach Matt Knoll’s squad, an NCAA Elite Eight team a year ago, will open the 2015 dual-match schedule next Wednesday by hosting Illinois. Ranked No. 6 in the nation to open the new year, the Bears’ lineup includes two of the nation’s top 30 singles players (No. 5 Julian Lenz and No. 26 Tony Lupieri) and the 13th-ranked doubles team of Lupieri and Felipe Rios.
Sic ’em, Baylor tennis!