March 2, 2015
vs. 
#13 TCU (8-3) vs. #5 Baylor (9-2)
Tuseday, March 3, 2015 | 6 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas | Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center
Live Scoring | Live Blog
WACO, Texas - To begin its 19th-season of Big 12 play, the fifth-ranked Baylor's men's tennis team will host No. 13 TCU at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center Tuesday at 6 p.m.
"TCU has a really good team that is very talented," head coach Matt Knoll said. "They have recruited really well and are having sort of a breakthrough season. It is unusual for us to play a Big 12 match this early and it will be a big challenge. We have to bounce back quickly from the win over Virginia."
Baylor starts its quest for a third-straight conference regular season title with a 9-2 record and a 6-1 mark in home matches. In 18 seasons of Big 12 action, BU is 104-18 with 12 regular season titles, including 11 in the last 13 years.
In their last match out, the Bears downed No. 11 Virginia, 5-2, Sunday at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. That victory was Baylor's third in a row and its ninth victory over a ranked opponent. BU now has wins over four top-12 ranked teams in No. 6 Duke, No. 3 Virginia, No. 12 UCLA and No. 11 Virginia.
Baylor owns a 22-31 overall record against the Horned Frogs, but leads the series 17-5 in the Matt Knoll era with 14 straight victories. Last season, Baylor took a 6-1 win over the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth on April 8. BU has not lost to the Horned Frogs since 2001. Since TCU joined the Big 12 in 2013, the Bears are 3-0 in the series with two regular season wins, including a 5-2 victory in the last match in Waco on April 21, 2013.
BU is led by 11th-ranked Julian Lenz, who is 8-1 on the season. The junior Bear has beat the country's No. 2 ranked player in last two matches out, dismantling UCLA's Mackenzie McDonald, 6-4, 6-2, and then sweeping Ryan Shane, 6-4, 7-5, of Virginia Sunday.
Baylor has two other ranked players in singles with Tony Lupieri and Max Tchoutakian listed at No. 23 and 40 respectively in the latest ITA rankings. The Bears are led in doubles with Lupieri joining Felipe Rios to be ranked No. 19, while Lupieri and Zsiga are listed as the country's 57th-best duo.
TCU comes to Waco with an 8-3 record and fresh off a doubleheader sweep of Wisconsin and Incarnate Word on Sunday. The Horned Frogs only losses on the year came at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships when they dropped decisions to No. 3 Virginia, No. 6 Duke and No. 10 UCLA.
Individually, TCU is led by 28th-ranked Cameron Norrie, No. 48 Nick Chappell and 110th-ranked Facundo Lugones. The Horned Frogs have three ranked doubles teams as well with Norrie partnering with Trevor Johnson to be ranked No. 15, Chappell tandems with Will Stein to be the 20th-ranked duo and Johnson and Blake Wiggins are No. 53 in the country.
Tuesday's match was originally scheduled for March 24, but a scheduling conflict with the Oracle Collegiate Challenge forced it to be moved.
Live scoring, live video and a live blog for the matches against TCU will be provided on BaylorBears.com.
Following the match versus TCU, Baylor will have two road matches at No. 42 Memphis (March 8) and No. 10 Mississippi (March 10).
For the latest news on the Baylor men's tennis team follow its official Twitter account: @BaylorMTennis.
