 "Photo: Eliot Meyer")
After their match against No. 13 Baylor tonight, the Longhorns hope to party like it's 1999. That's the last time Texas has beaten Baylor.
No. 7 Texas hits the road to try and put an end to a nine-year losing streak as the Longhorns face Baylor at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco.
Today's match, which was originally intended to be played on April 9, was rescheduled due to incle-ment weather.
Texas currently holds a 17-4 overall record and stands 3-1 in Big 12 play. Their last loss came from No. 22 Texas Tech this past weekend when the Red Raiders upset the Longhorns by a 4-3 count in
Lubbock. Tonight will give Texas another road test against a ranked team.
Baylor stands on top of the Big 12 rankings with a perfect 3-0 conference record while posting a 17-7 record for the season. The Bears have won the past six Big 12 Conference regular season titles and have claimed the Big 12 Tournament title five times. In their last 12 seasons of Big 12 play, the Bears have posted an impressive 74-12 (.860) record under current head coach Matt Knoll.
The last time these two teams faced each other, Baylor defeated Texas 4-1 in the finals of the 2007 Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, Mo.
The Longhorns' last win over Baylor came in the final round of the 2006 Big 12 Championship, where Texas posted a 4-1 win over the Bears. Texas holds a 77-13-1 advantage in its all-time series against Baylor.
Heading into Wednesday's match, the Longhorns boast four ranked players on their roster: No. 17 Dimitar Kutrovsky, No. 37 Kellen Damico, No. 45 Ed Corrie and No. 115 Luis Diaz Barriga, as well as three highly ranked doubles teams: No. 6 Damico/Corrie, No. 16 Diaz Barriga/Damico and No. 35 Diaz Barriga/Miguel Reyes Varela.
The Bears will be headlined by four ranked players, including No. 8 Lars Poerschke and No. 12 Denes Lukacs. Baylor sophomore Attila Bucko also currently owns the team's top win streak with 10 consecutive singles victories.
The 'Horns have received big contributions from freshmen Damico and Corrie. Damico claimed the singles title at the HEB Baylor Fall Invitational and the Racuet Club Collegiate Invitational while Corrie won the Texas Invitational in November.
Kutrovsky has also come into his own in recent weeks, winning the Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week award. Kutrovsky and Damico have both won the award twice.
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