vs.

No. 7 Baylor (0-0) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (0-0) Jan. 20, 2011 | 3 p.m. CST| Waco, Texas | Baylor Tennis Center (1,600)

Notes

WACO, Texas - The seventh-ranked men's tennis team will open the 2011 dual-match season on Thursday as the Bears host Louisiana-Lafayette at the Baylor Tennis Center for a 3 p.m. first serve.

Baylor enters the match with five returning letterwinners from a 2010 squad that went 24-7 and made a third-consecutive trip to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. Senior Jordan Rux returns for the Bears after sitting out the fall season and will look to bolster the top of the Bears lineup. Fellow senior Sergio Ramirez is back as well, after posting an 8-4 mark in fall action. Juniors Julian Bley and Chris Gordon, as well as sophomore Roberto Maytin round out the Baylor returnees.

To that lineup head coach Matt Knoll in his 15th-season at the helm of the Baylor program has added senior John Peers, a transfer from Middle Tennessee State, junior Kike Grangeiro, a transfer from Troy, and freshmen Robert Verzaal and Dennis Lengsfeld.

A Baylor win would be their 10th-straight in season openers and the 17th-consecutive win in a home opener.

SCOUTING LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE: The unranked Ragin' Cajuns enter year three of the Mark Jeffrey coaching era with a very young team that includes no seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and eight freshmen on their roster. In Jeffrey's two years at the helm, Louisiana-Lafayette has posted a 28-18 record.

PLAYERS €ˆTO €ˆWATCH: Louisiana-Lafayette returns three players from last year's squad, including junior and two-year letterwinner Yanick Mandl, who was 10-8 last year. Junior Carlin Murray also returns after posting a 12-8 mark last year. The Ragin' Cajuns also added Tennessee Tech transfer Oscar Pachon, a junior, over the summer.

SERIES RECORD: The Bears have owned the Ragin' Cajuns of late winning six straight matches against them dating back to 1998. Overall, Baylor leads the series 7-5 with Louisiana-Lafayette having won five out of six in the 1970s and 80s. In Waco, the Bears are 7-4 vs. the Ragin' Cajuns with one neutral site loss to the school. Over the past six matches the Bears have won by an average margin of 6-1.

LAST €ˆTIME €ˆAGAINT LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE: The sixth-ranked Bears swept the Ragin' Cajuns, 7-0, in Waco on January 22, 2010 to open the season with a win. Baylor won all three doubles matches and won all six singles matches in two sets to claim the victory.

LOOKING AHEAD: After opening the season at home, the Bears will head to Gainesville, Fla., for their first road match against ninth-ranked Florida. Baylor faced the Gators twice last season with BU €ˆwinning on Jan. 24 in Waco, 5-2, and Florida taking the match, 4-2, when the two teams met in the National Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Va., only 19 days later.

STARTING €ˆTHE €ˆSEASON €ˆON €ˆTHE €ˆRIGHT €ˆFOOT: The Bears have won nine-straight spring dual match openers dating back to a 2001 loss to 16th-ranked SMU €ˆon the road. Under Matt Knoll, Baylor is 12-2 to start the season and overall in program history the Bears are 25-16.

BAYLOR €ˆIN €ˆHOME OPENERS: Currently, the Bears are on a 16-match home opener win streak with their last loss coming in 1995 to UT-San Antonio. Baylor owns a perfect 14-0 home opener record under Knoll. During their 41-year history, Baylor is 28-13 in such matches.

COLD €ˆWEATHER €ˆHOT €ˆRESULTS: During the month of January the Bears have produced a 26-5 record under head coach Matt Knoll. Last season, Baylor was 3-0 in January and the Bears are currently on a five-match win streak in the month with their last loss coming on Jan. 25, 2009 to No. 10 Florida. Before Knoll arrived in Waco the Bears had only played 13 total matches in January, posting a 6-7 record.

Quotes: Head Coach Matt Knoll

On his outlook of his team heading into the first match:
"We feel like we really have an eager group of guys, who are looking forward to getting out and competing as a group. This group has shown a lot of commitment in their practice and preparation. It has been a lot of fun practicing with them and I am looking forward to competing with them. I think we are going to see them play better and better as we get some good match play in."

On his team's preparation before the first match:
"I think we have down a good job of getting ourselves physically ready and emotionally ready to play and certainly the preseason trip that we took to Argentina is going to be a big plus in our preparation. I feel we have got a jump on the season, because we went down there and spent all that time training and bonding."

On what he is looking to take out of the first match:
"You are just trying to get guys into the match and have them manage whatever challenges they might find and try to play their best tennis."