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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"><b><u>BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Jan. 16, 2026</u></b></span></h1>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; color: black;"><b>No. 25 Baylor WT Set for Home-Opening Weekend against Illinois, Tulane</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black; background-color: white;"><b><i>Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center hosting Saturday and Sunday afternoon
matches</i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>For more information contact:
</b>Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; color: purple;"><u><a href="mailto:colin_pirtle1@baylor.edu" data-outlook-id="21152c04-9955-44dd-878e-03bd44fce681" style="color: purple; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">colin_pirtle1@baylor.edu</a></u></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>WACO, Texas –</b> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">The 25<sup>th</sup>-ranked Baylor women’s tennis team opens its
2026 dual slate against Illinois Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center, followed by a bout against the Tulane Green Wave on Sunday at noon.</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">Baylor, whose 20-6 campaign in the 2024-25 season ended in a narrow NCAA first-round loss to Boise State, returns four players to the roster for a fresh 2025-26 slate. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">Among the newcomers, freshman Mu-Jie Tzeng checks in with a 99<sup>th</sup> ranking in singles. Third-year Bear Zuzanna Kubacha posts a 57<sup>th</sup> ranking and senior Na Dong
earns the 40<sup>th</sup> singles ranking after fall play. In doubles, the duo of Dong and Kubacha, who made an appearance in the NCAA singles and doubles championship in November, come in at 61<sup>st</sup>, while the duo of senior Kennedy Gibbs and Dong
boasts the 38<sup>th</sup> rank. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">The Fighting Illini have the 60<sup>th</sup>-ranked doubles team with Alice Xu and Tess Bucher, while Tulane’s roster does not feature any ranked courts. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">Illinois currently leads the all-time series record at 4-2, with the Bears winning the last two matchups. Last season, the green and gold defeated the Fighting Illini on the road,
4-1. In the match, Kubacha earned a point on Court Three with a 6-3, 6-2 victory and Dong sealed the victory with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 decision on Court Four. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">Baylor and Tulane are knotted up in the all-time series as four matches each, last facing off in the 2005 season. The Green Wave claimed the first meeting in 1992 and the last three
consecutive in 2003, 2004 and 2005 after a four-match win streak for Baylor in each season between 1993 and 1996.</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">Last season, Dong led the team in singles wins with 27, 11 of those being from conference action. Dong went undefeated in conference play, being named the Big 12 Newcomer of the
Year and to the Big 12 second team in singles. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">In the fall slate, both Dong and Kubacha had appearances in both the singles and doubles championships for the NCAA tournament. The duo both advanced in the first round, with Dong
knocking out the No. 1 seed, but both fell in the round of 32. In doubles, Dong and Kubacha fell in the first round. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">Live results for the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center are available
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: purple;"><u><a href="https://sidearmstats.com/baylor/wten2/" data-outlook-id="e264fab9-3326-4232-9f6c-930a0210e043" style="color: purple; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">online</a></u></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"> with
live streaming provided by </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: purple;"><u><a href="https://baylorbears.com/sports/2018/9/18/tennis-playsight" data-outlook-id="efc4d2e2-2fe3-4029-807f-8214a331ba02" style="color: purple; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Playsight</a></u></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">Admission to the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center is free all season long. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">For more information on Baylor Women’s Tennis, follow @BaylorWTennis on X, Instagram and Facebook.</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><i> - BaylorBears</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;"><i><u>.com</u> –</i></span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: black;">_________________________________________</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: rgb(7, 61, 30);"><b>Colin Pirtle</b> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">| Associate Director of Athletics Communications (WBB, Soccer, W. Tennis) </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">Department of Athletics | Baylor University</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;">C: 940-564-0351</span></p>
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