Browsing: Tennis

The Baylor men’s tennis team, ranked 13th in the nation, starts the Big 12 Championship Saturday as the top seed. The Bears (19-4) will play the winner of TCU and Texas.

The team began the season with a rough start in a loss at Tulsa, but then went on an eight-match win streak. The team then lost three in a row to top-five teams, including top-ranked Virginia. However, the Bears found themselves in every third set against the Cavaliers, making for a close match.

Despite his best efforts to evade being drenched, head coach Joey Scrivano was unsuccessful in avoiding the contents of the water jug as the Baylor women’s tennis team celebrated its ninth Big 12 title in 11 years.

“That was the best bath I’ve had in a long time,” Scrivano said. “I missed having that bath last year and I couldn’t wait to get it this year. To win any kind of championship takes a tremendous amount of work. We battled a lot of adversity this year and it was great to see a completely new team have this experience.”

The 15th-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team won the outright Big 12 Regular Season Championship after beating the 37th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs 5-2 Sunday. The team also celebrated senior Roberto Maytin’s “Senior Night.”

The 15th-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team swept the Oklahoma State Cowboys 7-0 Sunday at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco. The Bears extended their win streak to seven matches and are now 3-0 in conference play.

The No. 15 Baylor men’s tennis team will continue conference play against the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners at 6 p.m. today at the Hurd Tennis Center. The Bears (15-4) are 1-0 in conference play this season and are coming off of a 6-1 win at Texas Tech last week and a five-match win streak.

The Baylor Women’s tennis team came up short on Wednesday night against 4th-ranked Texas A&M at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. The Lady Bears took an early lead after winning the doubles point, but were unable to keep the Aggies from taking control of the match in singles play and securing the 4-2 overall victory.

“We definitely competed harder in that particular match than we have lately, but ultimately we still fell short,” head coach Joey Scrivano said.

The 22nd-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team showed another strong outing in a 5-0 victory over the 34th-ranked Memphis Tigers.

“The scoreboard says 5-0, but it was tough out there,” head coach Matt Knoll said. “We had to fight hard, and I give Memphis a lot of credit for battling.”

The 29th-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team beat the Wichita State Shockers 6-1 Friday. The win brings the Bears to 12-4 this season.

“I thought some guys played well,” head coach Matt Knoll said. “We had some good spots. Doubles was certainly great. I think after the first sets and halfway through the second, I thought it was a really good day. We kind of lost our momentum and focus down the stretch and didn’t finish as well as we would’ve liked, but a lot of guys got some wins and I thought it was a positive day.”

The 29th-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team will take on the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns at 3 p.m. today at the Hurd Tennis Center.

The Bears (10-4) have lost three straight matches, which have been against top-5 teams.

The Baylor men’s tennis team showed a valiant effort against the top-ranked Virginia Cavaliers Monday, but ultimately lost 6-1. The Bears (10-3) lost five of their six singles matches, and all losses were three-set thrillers.

“I thought we came out today and really came out swinging,” head coach Matt Knoll said. “We made a match out of it. Unfortunately we weren’t good enough to get a ‘W’, but we’re getting better.”

The Baylor men’s tennis team lost to the No. 2 UCLA Bruins Sunday, ending its eight-match win streak. The final match count was 6-1.

“They beat us up pretty good,” head coach Matt Knoll said. “We’ve got a lot to learn. There are a lot of opportunities to grow from this and that’s the key. If we take it as learners and make improvements, than it’s been a fantastic day. It’s still March, we got a long way to go and this is a great chance for us to see where we stand.”

In a high-intensity event involving a rain delay, sportsmanship warnings and the biggest win of the season for the Baylor men’s tennis team, the No. 38 Bears defeated the No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats 6-1 Friday at the Jim and Nell Hawkins Tennis Facility.

The 26th-ranked men’s tennis team will face its toughest test of the season, taking on the No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center.

This is the start of a three-game stretch in which the Bears (9-1) will take on three top-five teams in three days.

The red-hot men’s tennis team beat Laredo Community College and Abilene Christian Saturday with 7-0 victories in both matches.

The 26th-ranked Bears (9-1) have extended their win streak to seven with these two wins.

“It felt great,” head coach Matt Knoll said. “14-0, wonderful day to be a Baylor Bear.”

The men’s tennis team is coming off of a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Florida Gators on Saturday.

“We’re pleased,” head coach Matt Knoll said. “It’s tough to play there. We’ve struggled down there for years and I thought the guys did a great job of battling from beginning to [the] end and finding a way to win.”

After clinching the doubles point, the Bears were down early with straight-set losses from sophomores Tony Lupieri and Diego Galeano.

The 20th-ranked men’s tennis team beat the North Florida Ospreys 6-1 Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla.
The win brings the Bears to 6-1 and extends the team’s winning streak to four.

Sophomore Diego Galeano has played as many matches as anyone on the 20th-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team this season.

He readily accepted his role as a utility man, playing with different doubles partners and in various singles spots when head coach Matt Knoll calls his name.

The Baylor women’s tennis team came out and battled against windy conditions to take down No. 48 Pepperdine. The win put an end to the Lady Bears’ five-game losing streak and was a much-needed boost of confidence for the team.

The 18th-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team defeated Texas-Pan American and UT Arlington 7-0 in a doubleheader Saturday.

“In terms of our energy, our focus level, our execution, I think all those things are way better than they’ve been,” said head coach Matt Knoll. “I’m really optimistic about what’s coming up next.”

The Baylor men’s tennis team is defined by hard work, discipline and excellence, and sophomore Mate Zsiga lives up to them all.

He was born in Germany and went to high school in the small city of Szeged, Hungary, and tennis was a pivotal part of his life from the very beginning.

“My whole family played tennis,” Zsiga says. “Both of my parents played at a high level. My dad became a coach and was coaching my brother, and I was there too.”

“We won.”

That’s all Baylor men’s tennis head coach Matt Knoll cared about last weekend in a dominant victory over Purdue.

The 18th-ranked Bears will play a doubleheader against Texas Pan-American at 11 a.m. and UT-Arlington at 3 p.m. this Saturday at the Hurd Tennis Center. The team (3-1) is looking to carry over its momentum from last weekend and a good week of practice.

Baylor women’s tennis team had a tough weekend in Charlottesville, Va., at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

The team opened up against No. 2 Duke with a 4-2 loss. Despite the loss, head coach Joey Scrivano was pleased with the focus and mentality from the team compared to last weekend’s match against No. 1 University of Florida.

Along with VCRs, fanny packs and Rosie O’Donnell, the great sport of tennis has been an American afterthought for years. This is a sad fact, because the excitement of the game goes far beyond a recorded episode of “The View.”

The Baylor women’s tennis team beat No. 36 Florida State and No. 21 Texas Tech this weekend in the ITA Kick-off Weekend to earn a spot in the ITA National Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va., from Feb. 8-11.

The team opened up the weekend on Saturday against Florida State with a 4-1 win. The Lady Bears secured the doubles point with a win from sophomore Ema Burgic and freshman Victoria Kisialeva. The match started off favorably with a 2-0 lead from the pair. After dropping three games in a row, the duo found themselves tied 4-4. The players finished strong with four straight games to win the doubles point.

In a historic night for Baylor athletics, the men’s tennis team dominated SMU 7-0 for the grand opening of the Jim and Nell Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center in front of a record crowd.

“We are a really young team and have a lot of new girls,” Burgic said. “It’s important for us to keep everyone on the same page and make the new girls trust and believe in what our program is doing.”

The men’s tennis team will look to carry momentum over from a strong showing in the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in Los Angeles last weekend. The team will take on SMU 7 p.m. Friday at home. The team is currently ranked No. 15 in the nation.

Baylor women’s tennis player, Ema Burgic advanced to the USTA/ITA Regional final on Tuesday, but lost a tough battle to the No. 1 seed of the tournament, Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar of Texas A&M.

Baylor served as one of twelve regional sites across the country for the Regional Championships from Oct. 19-23 at the Hurd Tennis Center. Baylor competed against teams from the Texas region.

Baylor women’s tennis will compete in the USTA/ITA Regional Championship beginning on Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco.

The winner of the Regional Championship, which will be awarded on Tuesday, will gain a bid to the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championship in New York, N.Y. in November.