The No. 15-ranked Baylor women’s tennis team looks to improve their conference record as they face Iowa State and West Virginia this weekend.
The Lady Bears (13-5, 1-2) defeated No. 47 Oklahoma but dropped road matches to No. 7 Oklahoma State and No. 9 Texas Tech earlier this month
Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano says the team has a chance to bounce back this weekend on the road.
“Every match we play is an opportunity to get better,” Scrivano told Baylorbears.com, “so Iowa State and West Virginia are going to provide us an opportunity to bounce back and get back to the basics.”
Baylor is undefeated in the all-time series against both teams, going 21-0 in matches versus Iowa State and 4-0 against West Virginia.
Scrivano stressed improvement as the biggest thing he is looking for in his team as they hit the road.
“We have to focus on us improving as a team first and focus on the opponent second,” Scrivano told Baylorbears.com. “Right now, all our attention is on how can we improve as a team and put ourselves in the position to make a run in the postseason.”
Iowa State, like Baylor, is 1-2 in the Big 12, with their only win coming over West Virginia. The Cyclones were blanked by both Kansas and Kansas State.
West Virginia is 0-3 in conference play and has lost four straight games, all on the road.
West Virginia head coach Miha Lisac says the team is excited to return home to take on the Lady Bears.
“Overall, we are looking forward to a couple of things this weekend,” Lisac told WVUSports.com. “Especially being at home again and playing either at Ridgeview or outdoors, depending on the weather, but in front of our home fans. We are looking forward to Texas and Baylor coming to Morgantown and competing against them here.”
The Lady Bears are undefeated at home but hold just a 3-5 record in road matches. Senior Blair Shankle ranks at No. 4 nationally in singles, and the doubles pair of Shankle and sophomore Elizabeth Profit comes in at No. 32 in the country.
Following the back-to-back road matches, the Lady Bears will return home to play SMU before taking on four straight conference opponents in Waco.
Baylor and Iowa State are set to play at 3 p.m. Friday in Ames, Iowa. The Lady Bears will face West Virginia at 9 a.m. Sunday in Morgantown, W.Va.
