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Baylor women's tennis opens season at Hawaii Saturday

Baylor women's tennis opens season at Hawaii Saturday
Posted at 2:46 PM, Jan 11, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-11 15:46:01-05

The Baylor women’s tennis team kicks off the season on the road Saturday at 4 p.m., taking on the University of Hawaii at the UH Tennis Complex. The Bears were 18-14 last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago and will aim for their 15th consecutive trip to the tournament this season.

Baylor is 5-0 all-time vs. the Rainbow Warriors, last facing UH Jan. 9, 2016 in a 4-3 win. Hawaii went 13-8 overall last season, 6-2 in the Big West Conference and advance to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Bears return six players from last year’s team while adding two walk-ons in Stephanie Adames and Alexandra Ahearn. New signees Paula Barañano, Alicia Herrero Linana and Mel Krywoj will all sit in the spring to serve a year in residence.

Baylor competed individually in the fall with Livia Kraus highlights the first semester extending her personal winning streak to 15 matches on the singles court, including an upset of No. 28 Julia Rosenqvist of Cal Nov. 7 in the first round of the ITA National Fall Championships before falling to No. 8 Katarina Jokic of Georgia to end the streak Nov. 8.

Kraus will lead the Lady Bears into the spring with a No. 59 ITA singles ranking while Kristina Sorokolet ranks No. 114. Baylor received votes in the initial ITA Top 25 poll Wednesday. Baylor kicks off its home season Jan. 19 with a doubleheader vs. UTRGV at 11 a.m. and New Mexico at 4 p.m.