Men's Tennis Releases 2021 Spring Schedule
WACO, Texas – Baylor men’s tennis released its 2021 spring schedule on Monday, as announced by interim head coach Michael Woodson.
The Bears will host 15 of their 30 regular-season matches in Waco, including conference contests against Texas Tech and Texas. BU is also set to compete in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich., for a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
“We are excited to be moving forward with a full spring season,” said Woodson. “The quality of our schedule is indicative of the level of play our team will bring this season. Our young men are striving for conference and national championships and we feel strongly that this schedule will help prepare them for the tough moments in April and May.”
The 2021 schedule features 12 matches against opponents that were ranked inside the ITA’s final top-25 poll: No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Texas, No. 6 NC State, No. 7 TCU, No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 13 Wake Forest, No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 17 Harvard and No. 19 Pepperdine.
After the COVID-19 pandemic cut the 2020 season short and limited action in the fall, the Bears will begin the 2021 campaign in search of their 23rd-consecutive NCAA Tournament bid with four home matches against Lamar, Abilene Christian and SMU on Jan. 15 and 18.
BU will then head to Ann Arbor to partake in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Jan. 23-24 to face the host Michigan team and either Texas A&M or Pepperdine. If the Bears can collect two wins, they will earn a spot at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 12-14 in Champaign, Ill.
In between the two tournaments, BU has three matches. First, a non-conference matchup at Texas on Jan. 30, followed by duals with TCU and Oklahoma on Jan. 31 and Feb. 6 back in Waco.
The Bears will welcome Texas A&M to Waco on Feb. 19 before hitting the east coast for matches at NC State and Wake Forest on March 2 and 4.
Baylor then heads to Beaumont to face Lamar for the second time on March 6 and will follow that with a home contest against Arizona State a day later.
A potential third matchup with the Aggies comes in College Station on March 11, preceding a four-match homestand over 10 days where the Bears will face Arizona, Louisiana, Tulsa and Harvard from March 17-27.
To close out the month, BU will travel north to Dallas for a doubleheader at SMU on March 28 for its final action before the conference season.
Baylor will open up Big 12 play at Oklahoma State on April 1 and then take on Oklahoma on April 3 in Norman. The Bears’ two conference home matches come on April 10 and 15 against the Red Raiders and Longhorns, before closing out the regular season at TCU on April 18.
Baylor will also host the 2021 Big 12 Championship in Waco on April 23-25, while the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championship will be held at select campus sites on May 7-8. One week later, the remaining 16 teams will play in campus regionals on May 14-15.
Orlando will play host to the NCAA Championship finals from May 20-29 at the USTA National Campus where both team and individual champions will be crowned.
The Bears return 11 players from the 2020 roster that went 13-3 in the shortened season, in addition to three graduate transfers. BU has won 13 Big 12 regular-season titles and nine tournament crowns over the 25-year history of the conference.