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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 13.8px;"><b>BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 30, 2026</b></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; color: black;"><b>No. 10 Seed Baylor MT looks to defend the Hurd against Tulsa in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament </b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black; background-color: white;"><b><i>The Bears face the Hurricanes to start NCAA tournament play in Waco</i></b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>For more information contact:
</b>Josie Hutton; 254-709-7720, </span><span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(150, 96, 125);"><a href="mailto:josie_hutton@baylor.edu" data-outlook-id="e767b554-af79-495c-acba-d5f955f0b8f7" style="color: rgb(150, 96, 125); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><u>josie_hutton@baylor.edu</u></a></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>WACO, Texas –</b> No. 10 seed Baylor will kick off NCAA Tournament matches on their home court against the unseeded University of Tulsa. This is the first time since 2022
that Baylor is hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. The Bears and Hurricanes will face each for Round One at 6 p.m CT on Friday, May 1st at the Hurd Tennis Center. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Weather permitting, the match may be moved to Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">BU (22-9) is entering the first round after their 4-0 loss against TCU in the Big 12 Championship semifinals and a 4-1 win over Utah in the quarterfinals. During their match
against the Horned Frogs, Zsombor Velcz and Alexandru Chirita defeated their No. 1 ranked TCU opponents, and gave them their first loss of the season with a 6-3 win in doubles. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The University of Tulsa (19-12) won the American Conference Championship for the first time in program history to gain automatic admittance into the NCAA Tournament. Sitting
at No. 55 in the ITA rankings, the Hurricanes are unseeded entering into the match against the Bears. The last time these two teams met in January, Baylor swept Tulsa 4-0 at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Baylor’s Devin Badenhorst remains at No. 10, in the national rankings. He is joined by No. 42 Zsombor Velcz and No. 49 Connor Van Schalkwyk for singles. For doubles, Velcz and
Chirita hold the No. 69 spot with Van Schalkwyk and Luc Koenig at No. 89. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The winner of Baylor versus Tulsa will take on the winner of Auburn versus Santa Clara, which takes place at 3 p.m. CT prior to the Bears’ match. The second round match will
be played on Saturday, May 2nd, at 6 p.m. CT. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><i> - BaylorBears</i></span><span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;"><i><u>.com</u> -</i></span></p>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(15, 92, 26);"><b>Josie Hutton</b></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black;"> | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (MBB, FB, MTEN) </span></p>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black;">Department of Athletics | Baylor University</span></p>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black;">C: (254) 709-7720</span></p>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black;"> <img src="cid:67D33727-E4A9-4D29-9472-41A398FBDDB5" alt="BU.png" id="id-67D33727-E4A9-4D29-9472-41A398FBDDB5" width="129" height="34" style="width: 129px; height: 34px; max-width: 100%; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"></span></p>
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