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<h1 align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;text-decoration:none">BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS- May 2, 2024<o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
<h2 align="left" style="text-align:left"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></h2>
<h2 align="left" style="text-align:left"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;font-style:normal">Baylor MT Opens NCAA Team Championship in College Station<o:p></o:p></span></b></h2>
<h2 align="left" style="text-align:left"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;font-style:normal">Bears and Toreros face off in first meeting<o:p></o:p></span></b></h2>
<h2 align="left" style="text-align:left"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif">For more information contact:
</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif">Colin Pirtle, 940-564-0351,
<a href="mailto:colin_pirtle1@baylor.edu">colin_pirtle1@baylor.edu</a><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black;background:white">BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas –
</span></b><span style="color:black;background:white">After securing a bid to the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championship for the 26<sup>th</sup> straight time, the Baylor men's tennis team opens its tournament against San Diego (22-3) at 10 a.m. CT on Friday
at Texas A&M’s Mitchell Tennis Center.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">The Bears (18-11) are 5-4 in College Station during the NCAA Championship and the team enters with a 22-3 record in the first round.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">Baylor exited the Big 12 Championship after dropping its first match, 4-1, to No. 3 TCU. No. 18 San Diego is coming off a WCC Tournament Championship after a 4-1 victory against No. 39 Pepperdine.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">Despite the Toreros making a visit to Waco for the 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend and the Bears visiting San Diego for the Hagedorn Hidden Dual in November, the two programs will face off against one
another for the first time in dual-match play. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">Ranked at No. 40, BU has four entries in the individual lists. Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz sit at No. 36 in doubles. In singles, Paroulek is No. 72, Velcz is No. 84 and Devin Badenhorst is
No. 123. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">San Diego has one doubles ranked pair in Sacchitt Sharrma and Stian Klaassen at No. 60. In singles, Oliver Tarvet leads at 6th and Iiro Vasa at 85th, just one spot under Baylor’s Velcz.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">A win on Friday would lead the Bears to face the winner between hosting No. 18 Texas A&M (18-10) and No. 49 Rice Owls (17-8) at 4 p.m. on May 4, where BU holds a 20-2 record in the second round
of play. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">The Aggies tied for fourth in the SEC after the regular season but are on a five-match skid in the month of April with matches dropped to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Auburn, Alabama and LSU.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">Out of Houston, the Owls put up a 3-2 record in the month of April, defeating Creighton and UTSA to end the regular season and Tulsa in the conference tournament before finishing fourth in the
AAC. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"><a href="https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=526184">Live scoring</a><b>
</b>will be available online for fans to follow along during the first two rounds.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">For the latest news on the Baylor men's tennis team, follow its official Facebook, X and Instagram accounts: @BaylorMTennis.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black;background:white"></span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif">—BaylorBears.com—</span></i><i><span style="font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">_________________________________________</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#073D1E;mso-ligatures:none">Colin Pirtle</span></b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#073D1E;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">|
Associate Director of Athletics Communications (WBB, T&F/XC, MTEN) </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Department of Athletics | Baylor University</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">C: 940-564-0351</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:3.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://baylorbears.com/" title="http://baylorbears.com/"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="160" height="44" style="width:1.6666in;height:.4583in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01DA9C71.1024DDE0" alt="signature_2230589939"></span></a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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