As head coach Matt Knoll embarks on his 22nd season at the helm of the Baylor men’s tennis program, he unveiled his team's 2018 spring schedule Monday afternoon.
The Bears conclude the individual season on Jan. 12 with the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in Thousand Oaks, Calif., which runs til Jan. 14.
Then, Baylor opens its dual-match season by hosting a doubleheader on Jan. 20 with UMKC coming to the Hurd Tennis Center.
Next up for the Bears is the ITA National Indoor Kick-Off Weekend, which will serve as the qualifying rounds of the 2018 ITA National Team Indoor Championships. On Saturday, Jan. 27, top-seeded Baylor will host UNLV in the opening round while two-seed Florida State takes on three-seeded Purdue.
The two winners of the Jan. 27 matches will advance to the championship match on Sunday, Jan. 28, where they will face off for a spot at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
If it wins both matches of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Baylor will again take part in ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle, Wash., from Feb. 16-19.
In between the ITA Kick-Off Weekend and the national event, the Bears have three matches. First, BU will head to Mississippi to take on the Rebels on Feb. 4 at 11 a.m. The Bears return home to host Purdue on Feb. 10 and then South Florida on Feb. 11. Both matches are slated for a 1 p.m. start.
Following the indoor championships, Baylor will host a three-match home stand, starting with a doubleheader against Abilene Christian on Feb. 24 and closing with a March 2 showdown against Memphis.
Three days later, BU hits the road for a matchup against UCF on March 5 in Orlando, Fla. Then, the Bears travel to face top tier opponents in three neutral site matches at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge from March 16-18 in Indian Wells, Calif.
Three home matches await the Bears’ return to Waco as BU hosts Tulsa on March 23 at 4 p.m., followed by a doubleheader against Incarnate Word on March 29 to conclude the non-conference slate at 3 and 7 p.m., respectively.
The Bears open up Big 12 play on the road as they travel to face Oklahoma on April 6 in Norman, Okla. Two days later, BU matches up against Oklahoma State on April 8 in Stillwater, Okla.
Baylor returns home to host Texas Tech April 14 at 6 p.m. then goes to Fort Worth to battle TCU on April 19 at 5:30 p.m. The Bears close the regular season with a showdown against Texas on April 22 at 2 p.m.
The 2018 Big 12 Championship will be held in Austin, Texas on April 26-28, while the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships will be held at select campus sites, May 11-13. The final 16 teams in the NCAA Championship will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. on May 17-22, to determine the NCAA champion. Following the team portion, the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will be May 23-28 in Winston-Salem as well.
The Bears return five letterwinners from last year’s team that advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the 17th time in the last 19 seasons.
