The No. 15 Baylor women’s tennis team (13-5) prepares for consecutive road dual matches against Big 12 foes Iowa State (15-4) on Friday, March 31 and West Virginia (4-9) on Sunday, April 2. The matches will take place at 3 p.m. (CT) and 9 a.m., respectively.
In the last meeting, the then-ranked No. 45 Lady Bears swept the Cyclones, 4-0, at home on April 15, 2016. Baylor has never lost a match against Iowa State, leading the all-time series 21-0.
The Cyclones are 1-2 in Big 12 play, winning their match against West Virginia, 4-2, and losing back-to-back games against Kansas State, 0-4, and Kansas, 0-4. Iowa State is facing a two loss streak when they compete against Baylor.
The Lady Bears lead the Mountaineers, 4-0, in the all-time series, most recently recording a 4-0 sweep over West Virginia at home on April 17, 2016.
The Mountaineers are coming off of a four-loss road streak, suffering defeats by Indiana (4-3), Iowa State (4-2), then-ranked No. 21 Kansas (4-0) and Kansas State (4-0). They are 0-3 when facing Big 12 opponents and will try to best Baylor with a home court advantage.
The Lady Bears are undefeated at home but will look to add another road win to their resume. They’ve collected three wins and five losses in road competition on the season.
“Every match we play is an opportunity to get better, so Iowa State and West Virginia are going to provide us an opportunity to bounce back and get back to the basics,” head coach Joey Scrivano said. “We have to focus on us improving as a team first and focus on the opponent second. Right now, all our attention is on how can we improve as a team and put ourselves in the position to make a run in the postseason.”
Baylor has won six of their nine March matches including victories over then-ranked No. 21 UCLA (4-3) and then-ranked No. 47 Oklahoma (4-0) before beating then-ranked No. 32 USC (4-1) on a national stage at the BPN Paribas Open.
Senior Blair Shankle remains ranked in the top five nationally at No. 4. The doubles duo of Shankle and sophomore Elizabeth Profit is rated No. 32.
After the road dual matches, Baylor returns home to face SMU on Friday, April 7. First serve is set for 4 p.m.
