By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
As Baylor women’s tennis goes into the postseason, the Bears are gearing up for the Big 12 Championships on their home court.
Grit has been the name of the game as the green and gold prepare for the next part of their season. Head coach Joey Scrivano said the freshmen have earned their spots on the court through both hard work and determination.
“This recruiting class has been one of the most successful in our program’s history,” Scrivano said. “You look at their numbers — it’s remarkable — and they’re even better people than tennis players. So we’re just thankful for them, and we would not be where we are right now, without a doubt.”
Senior Sierra Berry said the power of the underclassmen has been developed through guidance from the seniors.
“I think that all of the girls that have come in have really been a huge role in our success, and we have a lot of depth on our team, and we can rely on anyone, and we all trust each other,” Berry said. “So I think just playing as one, we have great seniors, so our underclassmen have learned from them.”
Having the crowd that the Big 12 Championships bring in is one of the most sentimental elements for Berry; going into her last postseason, she said that unity is a significant focus.
“It’s really special for me because I’m a senior, and just having the crowd behind us, and this is our home, these are our ports,” Berry said.” It really means everything to me, and I know it means everything to the team as well to be able to play here on our beautiful facility.”
Scrivano said the positives of playing at home include the players being able to continue their daily schedules and home team fan engagement.
“Logistically, it’s great to host,” Scrivano said. “The players get to stay in their own beds, and kind of stay in the routine, go to some of their classes that they normally would miss. So there are a lot of positives from that perspective; of course, playing in front of our home fans, that’s always a plus. And I think we’ll have a really good turnout.”
Scrivano also said the postseason is bittersweet for him and his teammates as the seniors prepare for their departure.
“It’s such an emotional day,” Scrivano said. “I mean, it’s a day that obviously we’re all excited for, but deep down, I dread it because I know the girls are leaving home, and that’s always hard as a coach; it’s hard to think about that.”
Going into specifics, Scrivano said Brooke Thompson has always stood out among the roster’s depth, making an impression both athletically and on the team’s inner workings.
“She is just such a high-character person,” Scrivano said. “She is good enough to play on 90% of the rosters, and she took the harder path, which was to stay the course and just wait for her opportunities … We still have a lot of season left, and she might get that opportunity this year to play, and when she has filled in this year, she’s been phenomenal. So I’m just so proud of her. She’s a throwback.”
As a whole, the team is focused on stepping up with their best foot forward within the Big 12 Tournament this year and plans to take the discipline they have created throughout the year into the postseason.
“We’ve been working really hard,” Berry said. “[The] Big 12 tournament is always huge, so we really just want to go out and prove to ourselves what we can do. We know how hard we’ve been training, so we really just want to go out there and show it and just have that mindset of, we’re going to take it.”
Baylor (19-4, 10-3 Big 12) will clash with Arizona at noon Friday in the quarterfinals at the Hurd Tennis Center.
