Baylor Hosts UTSA/ITA Texas Regional Championship

Hurd Tennis Center and the Baylor women’s tennis program are set to host the UTSA/ITA Texas Regional Championship, Oct. 20-24. Action kicks off with the opening round of doubles at 9 a.m. (CT) on Thursday followed by two rounds of singles.

The Bears welcome competitors from 17 institutions across the state, including Abilene Christian, Lamar, Rice, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State, SMU, Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, TCU, Texas, Texas State, Texas Tech, Incarnate Word, North Texas, UT-Arlington, and UT-San Antonio.

“We are excited for Baylor to host such a big tennis event in Waco this weekend,” Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano said. “Events like this bring in a lot of business to our community. It presents a good opportunity for our players to continue to develop and improve, while gaging where we stand against the top teams in the state.”

A total of 114 singles and 52 doubles entries will battle for qualification rights to the upcoming UTSA/ITA National Intercollegiate Championship, Nov. 3-6, in New York. Competing for the Bears are seniors Blair Shankle and Rhiann Newborn, juniors Theresa Van Zyl and Vanessa Phan, sophomores Karina Traxler and Elizabeth Profit, and freshman Jessica Hinojosa.

Shankle, fresh off of a strong singles showing at the Oracle/ITA Masters event where she posted a 3-1 mark, is seeded No. 2 in the tournament. The 54th-ranked senior is also seeded in doubles at No. 5 with Profit, who recently won the first singles and doubles tournament titles of her collegiate career at Baylor’s Under Armour/HEB Kickoff, Oct. 7-9.