Baylor Bear Insider
The A-Team's Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith used to say, "I love it when a plan comes together."
That's exactly how Joey Scrivano was feeling through the first two months of the spring season, with his 22nd-ranked Baylor women's tennis team off to a 10-2 start that included beating Ole Miss and Mississippi State and dominating Iowa State and West Virginia in the conference-opening weekend.
"We made a strategic decision to build for the 2020 season," said Scrivano, who was basically down two scholarships the year before when Mel Krywoj and Alicia Herrero Linana had to sit out a year in residence to gain eligibility, "and everything was working according to plan. It was really exciting to see it all come together."
That's what made it tough to handle when a promising season was cut short by COVID-19, with Baylor sitting atop the early Big 12 standings, tied with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas at 2-0. The Bears had already topped last year's win total (9-21) and were well on their way to making it back to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence.
"Of course, it was really difficult, especially because we invested so much for this season," said Scrivano, whose team had been to the NCAA Tournament in 15 of his previous 17 seasons at Baylor.
"But, you put things in perspective and realize there are people in a lot worse situation than we are. That helps you get your mind right and refocus on the positive. We have our health, we're able to play a sport, we're at a great university like Baylor and the future is bright. We'll get past that. We didn't really dwell on the negative."
After a rare off year, this season's team got a big boost with Krywoj, Herrero Linana and Florida transfer Anastasia Kharitonova holding down spots near the top of the lineup. While Kryowj and Kharitonova split time at the No. 1 spot, Herrero Linana was a combined 9-2 at Nos. 2-4.
"All three of them were at different levels of adapting and getting back into a groove," Scrivano said. "Anastasia had already experienced college tennis, so the adjustment was easiest for her. For Allie, it was more just the style of play. The game is faster in college. Just getting used to the speed of play and how the Americans players take the ball early and move it around and put you on defense. That was the adjustment for her, but she was handling it really well.
"And then for Mel, it was more just getting her healthy. She was incredibly durable through the redshirt year, even this fall. All of a sudden, the season started, and she had all kinds of little nagging injuries. She was just never able to get in a rhythm. I think for all three, the best is yet to come."
With the NCAA's decision to grant another year of eligibility for all spring sports student-athletes, Scrivano will have easily his deepest team in 2020-21. Seniors Jessica Hinojosa and Angelina Shakhraichuk have both committed to returning, giving the Bears eight returning scholarship players.
"I give a lot of credit to the NCAA and Baylor for extending eligibility and giving these kids an opportunity to go back and play," Scrivano said. "If that ruling had gone the other way, I think this would have been a lot harder for everybody, for sure."
Also returning are sophomores Kharitonova and Paula Baranano and juniors Krywoj, Herrero Linana, Livia Kraus and Kristina Sorokolet. Joining that group is Audrey Boch-Collins from Las Vegas, Nev., the No. 4-ranked recruit in the 2020 class.
"I've never had anything like that. I'll actually feel like a basketball coach or football coach. Now, the bench can help me coach the team, which I've never had before," Scrivano said. Asked if that would be hard to keep everyone happy, he said, "I'll take that any day of the week. I don't ever feel sorry for Scott Drew or Kim Mulkey."
With a one-year waiver for the eight-scholarship limit, Scrivano said the program is in good shape for the future.
"The good news is we're in a really good position down the road. We sat down and looked at it long-term, and we're fine," he said.
Loaded with a full roster, the Bears should be in position to return to the NCAA Tournament and contend for a Big 12 championship.
"The best teams have just an incredible amount of depth and the level of play is consistent all the way through the lineup," Scrivano said. "We were definitely on that track. I was really impressed with how much the team was improving and really buying into what we were preaching. It was exciting to see. That last match we played showed us where we stand and how much fight they have. It really was incredible."
Scrivano said the "blessing" of the ordered shutdown has been getting to spend more quality time at home with his wife, Courtney Scrivano, Baylor's Associate AD for Marketing and Fan Engagement, and sons, Nicolo and Luca.
"We just don't get to spend that much time with our kids," he said. "That became even more apparent going through this. We leave early in the morning, come back late at night and spend maybe a couple hours a day with our kids. That's the blessing in this."
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May 19, 2020 at 07:28AM
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