March 8, 2010

LOS ANGELES - Baylor's ninth-ranked women's tennis team will head to the west coast this week to take on two Pac-10 foes in No. 12 USC and No. 4 UCLA. The Lady Bears will play USC at Marks Stadium at 1:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, then take on UCLA at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at 1:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday.

The Lady Bears enter the weekend with five players ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association top 100. Senior Lenka Broosova, who is 8-0 in singles in the dual-match season, leads the way ranked No. 8, while sophomore Nina Secerbegovic, who is 10-0 in singles in dual matches, is ranked No. 41. Senior Csilla Borsanyi is ranked No. 53, junior Jelena Stanivuk is No. 82 and junior Taylor Ormond is No. 98. In doubles, the duo of Broosova and Borsanyi is currently ranked No. 11 in the nation.

The BU-USC matchup will mark the second meeting of the season between the two squads. The Bears and Trojans squared off in the consolation round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis. Baylor, coming off its first loss of the season at the time, fired on all cylinders on its way to a 5-2 victory. The Lady Bears won two of three doubles matches, and four of six singles matches, three of which were by straight sets.

Baylor is 2-0 all-time against the Trojans with the win earlier this season. USC (8-4) features three players ranked in the top 25 and one more in the top 100. Maria Sanchez checks in at No. 5, while Alison Ramos and Danielle Lao are No. 21 and 22, respectively. Valeria Pulido is ranked No. 91 for the Trojans. In doubles, Sanchez is part of two ranked doubles teams, including 36th with Lyndsay Kinstler and 40th with Sanchez. Of the four ranked players and ranked doubles tandem, only one (Ramos) recorded a victory against BU earlier this year.

The Lady Bears hold a 3-1 all-time record against UCLA, including wins each of the last two seasons. This will mark the fourth year in a row the two teams have met, with UCLA getting its only win against Baylor in 2007. The Bruins (11-1) also feature four ranked singles players, as well as a top-five doubles tandem. Yasmin Schnack is ranked No. 5, Andrea Remynse is 34th, Noelle Hickey is 37th and Pamela Montez is 124th. Remynse and Schnack spearhead the doubles teams for UCLA, ranked fourth in the nation.

Follow the action at USC with live video and scoring here on Tuesday, and live scoring at UCLA here on Wednesday.