Baylor tennis programs each hosting NCAA regionals

It’s been a good three days for Baylor’s tennis programs.

Sunday, the No. 3-ranked women beat #20 Texas to claim the program’s third straight Big 12 Conference Tournament title, while the 11th-ranked men (playing without their top player) upset the No. 7 Longhorns to win the conference tournament for the fourth time in five years. This on the heels of both programs winning the regular season conference title, as well.

The past week’s championships give Baylor’s athletic department 20 Big 12 Championships in the past five years. Only Texas has won more in that period. In all, the Bears have won 29 Big 12 championships in the league’s 12-year history; Baylor won exactly 29 Southwest Conference titles in 81 years of SWC membership.

Monday, the conference announced that the Baylor women had swept the 2008 All-Big 12 awards, claiming the Player (Zuzana Zemenova), Freshman (Taylor Ormond), Newcomer (Jelena Stanivuk) and Coach (Joey Scrivano) of the Year. Zemenova became the first athlete in Big 12 history to be named Player of the Year four straight years in any sport. Three other Lady Bears and three Baylor men were named to the All-Big 12 teams.

Tuesday, the programs learned that, for the third straight year, they would each host NCAA First and Second Round action. The women are the tournament’s No. 5 seed and will face Oral Roberts in the first round May 9. The men were named the No. 9 seed and begin the tournament May 10, also against Oral Roberts. Baylor is one of only two schools to have both the men and women ranked among the top 9 seeds.

Sic ’em, Baylor tennis!