Men's Tennis preview: No. 7 Baylor
April 1, 2009 WHAT: No. 11 Texas (14-3, 2-0 Big 12) returns home and resumes conference play against No. 7 Baylor (16-5, 1-0 Big 12). The match features not only the Big 12’s two most dominant men’s tennis programs but also a pair of national powers. Texas and Baylor have combined to win 11 of the 12 Big 12 Conference regular-season titles. The Longhorns and Bears have squared off in the finals of the last three Big 12 Championship tournaments. Texas was victorious in 2006, while Baylor claimed wins in 2007 and 2008. Either Texas, Baylor or both schools have reached the NCAA Final Four each year since 2004. WHEN: Thursday, April 2 – 6 p.m. Central WHERE: Penick-Allison Tennis Center – Austin, Texas (admission is free) LIVE SCORING: Click here for live scoring. LAST TEXAS-BAYLOR MEETING: Texas suffered a 4-2 defeat to Baylor on April 27, 2008 in the finals of the Big 12 Championship in College Station. During the 2008 regular season, Texas dealt Baylor a 4-3 defeat in Waco. LAST TIME OUT: Texas defeated Oklahoma by a 5-2 count on Sunday, March 29 in Norman, Okla. TEXAS-TEXAS TECH SCHEDULE NOTE: The start time for this Sunday’s (April 5) men’s tennis match featuring Texas and Texas Tech at UT’s Penick-Allison Tennis Center has been moved back one hour to 2 p.m. Central. THE 2009 LONGHORNS: Ninth-year head coach Michael Center and assistant coach Ricardo Rubio, the 2008 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year, welcome four singles starters – each of whom have earned All-America honors as Longhorns - from last year’s NCAA runner-up squad. Junior Dimitar Kutrovsky returns after holding down the No. 1 singles slot in his first two seasons. The native Bulgarian clinched UT’s 2008 NCAA quarterfinal win over Ohio State and its NCAA semifinal win over UCLA.
Sophomores Kellen Damico and Ed Corrie earned ITA doubles All-America honors a season ago and earned a spot on the 2008 NCAA All-Tournament Team at No. 1 doubles. Senior Miguel Reyes Varela, who earned ITA doubles All-America honors as a freshman, was selected to the 2008 NCAA All-Tournament Team at No. 6 singles and at No. 2 doubles with former Longhorn Luis Diaz Barriga. Junior Josh Zavala teamed up with Kutrovsky to land the No. 3 doubles slot on the 2008 NCAA All-Tournament Team. UT welcomes junior Olivier Sajous, a top-50 standout who played the last two seasons at Florida Atlantic University. |
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