WACO, Texas - The second-ranked and second-seeded Baylor men's tennis team will play in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2007 on Monday at the Hurd Tennis Center.
The Bears will face No. 3 Virginia at 1 p.m. to set up a possible matchup with the winner of No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 6 TCU in the national championship match held Tuesday at 1 p.m.
Baylor is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA semifinals, after blanking Bryant and No. 29 LSU in first and second round play and then beating No. 18 South Florida, 4-1, Thursday in the Round of 16 contest and No. 8 USC, 4-2, Saturday in the quarterfinals.
The Bears enter NCAA semifinal action with a 25-5 record, a 16-3 mark at home and a 21-5 mark against ranked foes.
Tickets for the NCAA Championships are available at BaylorBears.com or on the day of the match at the Baylor Baseball ticket office. Single-session tickets are $10 (adult) and $5 (children), while all-session passes can be purchased for $75 (adult) or $50 (children).
Championship Quick Hits
BAYLOR IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY: Baylor has amassed an impressive 52-16 (.765) all-time NCAA Championship record. The Bears have been selected to compete in postseason play for 18 straight seasons and have hosted the first two rounds of action 12 times. BU has reached the round of 16 16 times, including 14 straight trips and improved to 12-4 in those appearances with Thursday's win. The Bears have advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals on 12 occasions and upped its record to 5-7 in those trips with Saturday's victory. BU has been to the NCAA semifinals on four previous occasions, boasting a 2-2 record, including wins in 2004 and 2005 and losses in 2006 and 2007. The program won Baylor's first-ever NCAA Team Championship in 2004.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: With the 4-1 triumph over No. 18 USF Thursday and the 4-2 victory against No. 8 USC Saturday, the Bears improved to 16-3 at home in the 2015 dual-match season and 26-0 at home in NCAA Championship play. The Bears slipped past USF in doubles with tiebreaker wins on court one and two. BU then got singles wins from Julian Lenz, Diego Galeano and Felipe Rios to secure the match. Against the Trojans, the Bears rolled to doubles victories on court one and two, while getting singles wins from Galeano, Mate Zsiga and Rios.
WHEN PLAYING AS THE NO. 2 SEED: Entering its 2015 run, Baylor earned its highest seed since being No. 1 in the 2005 NCAA Championship. The Bears have been a No. 2 seed once before as they went 3-1 in 2003. With 2015's four victories, BU holds a 7-1 mark win playing as the No. 2 seed.
WHEN HOSTING NCAA PLAY: Baylor is a perfect 26-0 at home in NCAA Championship play. BU has recorded 17 shutouts when hosting and has surrendered only 15 points in those 26 matches.
LAST YEAR IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: Baylor received an automatic bid for the 2014 NCAA Championship and hosted first and second round action. The Bears defeated Texas A&M Corpus Christi, in the first round, before securing a 4-1 victory over No. 43 Tulsa in the second round. The Bears then traveled to Athens, Ga., to compete in the Round of 16 where they met up with 12th-ranked Illinois. The Bears swept the Illini, 4-0, to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time since 2011. In the quarterfinals, the Bears were shutout by No. 4 Virginia, 4-0.
Team Notes
SINGLES STREAKS & TRENDS: Senior Mate Zsiga has won 12 of his last 13 decisions. He has played predominantly in the five spot this season and has recorded a 14-3 record in dual-match play. Felipe Rios has also been a strong force for the Bears at the bottom of the lineup, winning 11 of his last 12 matches to boast a 21-3 dual-match mark, which leads Baylor. Diego Galeano has won his last seven decisions, after starting the dual-match season only 7-4.
BEARS DOMINATING THE DOUBLES POINT: BU is enjoying perhaps its most successful doubles season in school history. The Bears are 27-2 in the opening point in 2015, having gone on to win 24 of those matches. Baylor did not play doubles at Memphis due to the threat of inclement weather, but has won the doubles point in every other match, except on March 22 and April 26 against Oklahoma. BU's success comes from a strong third position as that spot has gone 23-4 in doubles matches. The No. 1 tandem for the Bears, Diego Galeano and Julian Lenz, has also been impressive, racking up a 22-2 record with 19 wins in last 20 matches.
TEAM STREAKS & TRENDS: Baylor enters the NCAA Championship semifinals having won 11 of its last 13 matches. The Bears recorded a season-high eight-match win streak that stretched from Feb. 20-March 21. BU lost its season-opener against then-No. 11 Illinois and has since only lost to current No. 1 Oklahoma. Baylor is 20-5 against ranked foes in 2015.
LOOKING AHEAD: A victory against Virginia would advance the Bears into the finals of the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2005 and the third time in program history. BU would face the winner of No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 6 TCU at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
RANKED BEARS: BBaylor currently has four singles competitors ranked in the latest ITA rankings including No. 2 Julian Lenz, No. 35 Tony Lupieri, 58th-ranked Max Tchoutakian and 116th-ranked Mate Zsiga. BU has three ranked doubles tandems with Diego Galeano and Lenz at No. 8, Lupieri and Felipe Rios at No. 60 and Lupieri teaming with Zsiga to be No. 79.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA: The third-ranked and third-seeded Cavaliers (27-3) will be making their sixth-straight NCAA semifinal appearance Monday. The Cavaliers knocked off No. 17 Columbia, 4-0, Thursday, and then beat No. 5 Texas A&M, 4-0, Saturday.
The Cavaliers have four ranked singles players, including No. 8 Ryan Shane. He partners with Luca Corinteli to make up the country's No. 2 ranked duo.
Earlier this year, BU beat Virginia, 4-3, in the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 14 and then took them out 5-2 on March 1 in Waco at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. BU still trails the all-time series against the Cavaliers, 8-5.
In that February match earlier this year, the Bears snapped a seven-match losing streak to Virginia and beat the Cavaliers for the first time since March 17, 2007.
Live scoring, video and a blog will be available for each and every match of the NCAA Championships on BaylorBears.com.
Check out BaylorBears.com for schedule and ticket information. Stay up to date with men's tennis by following us on Twitter @BaylorMTennis.
