WT Announces Challenging 2011-12 Schedule
8/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Aug. 16, 2011
Complete 2011-12 Schedule
WACO, Texas- Baylor women's tennis head coach Joey Scrivano announced one of the toughest dual-match schedules in the nation for the 2011-12 season on Tuesday, featuring nine top-25 teams.
The Lady Bears will prepare for their dual-match season with a six-tournament fall schedule. The slate is littered with ranked opponents, totaling 14 of 22 scheduled team matches, with the possibility of additional ranked matches with a qualification into the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
"We take pride in playing the strongest schedule in the nation year in and year out," Scrivano said. "This spring, we have a tremendous home schedule, playing defending national champion Florida, and other top-ranked teams like UCLA, Notre Dame, Clemson and Northwestern. I'm sure the highlight of our schedule this year for our student-athletes is our trip to Hawaii. We took a similar trip back in 2008 and the team loved it. Overall we're very excited about this year's schedule and getting back on the court."
In preparation of the grueling dual-match season, BU will take on some of the toughest competition in the nation individually, starting with the ITA Riviera All-American from Oct. 1-9. One week later, Baylor will host the HEB Invitational at newly named Hurd Tennis Center on Oct. 14-16.
Next, the Lady Bears will have a qualifying chance at the ITA Texas Regional on Oct. 21-25 in Fort Worth, Texas, with the goal of earning a berth to the ITA National Indoor Championships on Nov. 3-6, Flushing Meadows, N.Y. In between, Baylor will send a group to the Jack Kramer Club Invitational in Rolling Hills, Calif., from Oct. 28-30. After the indoor individual championships, the squad will conclude the fall tournament season with a trip to Bradenton, Fla., for the MetLife Lakewood Ranch Intercollegiate Clay Court on Nov. 11-13.
The dual-match season begins with a special trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the Lady Bears to take on Penn State and Hawaii in consecutive days on Jan. 6-7. Upon return, Baylor will play their next five matches at home, beginning with a non-conference matchup with Houston on Jan. 21.
Next, Baylor will play host to UCF, UT-Arlington and Wyoming for two qualifying rounds of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Baylor will take on the Golden Knights and UTA will battle UW on Jan. 28 with the winners squaring off on Jan. 29 for a chance to be one of 16 teams in Charlottesville, Va., on Feb. 10-13.
In between, however, the Lady Bears will have their first big test of the season, following a Feb. 1 match against TCU with defending NCAA champion Florida at home on Feb. 4. Two weeks later, BU will host a top-10 team in UCLA on Feb. 19.
Baylor will begin the Big 12 slate on March 1 in Lubbock, Texas, taking on Texas Tech before stepping back out of conference play for four consecutive top 20 matchups. Tilts against Northwestern, Miami, Vanderbilt and Clemson all land in a 16-day stretch from March 4-20.
The Bears will then spend the following two weeks in conference play, with home matches against Oklahoma (March 30) and Texas A&M (April 4) highlighting the stretch. The last non-conference match of the season features a host of perennial top-10 Notre Dame on April 7.
Baylor concludes the season with a three-match Big 12 stretch, including an important tilt with Texas on April 13, before tuning up for the Big 12 Championship with matches against Iowa State and Missouri.
The postseason begins with the conference tournament on April 26-29, followed by the NCAA First and Second Rounds at selected campus sites on May 11-12. The NCAA Team and Individual Championships are slated for May 17-28 in Athens, Ga., to conclude the year.
Baylor put together a 29-4 record in 2010, marking the seventh consecutive season with at least 20 wins and the third-highest win total in program history. With a trip to the NCAA Semifinals, the Lady Bears have reached at least the NCAA Quarterfinals in four straight seasons and the finals site in seven straight seasons.
