No. 4 Baylor Men's Tennis Falls 4-1 to No. 2 North Carolina in ITA National Indoor Championship

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – February 14, 2021

No. 4 MT Falls 4-1 to No. 2 North Carolina in ITA National Indoor Championship
Bears unable to overcome loss in doubles point, five-match win streak snapped
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 4 Baylor men’s tennis put up a great fight but ultimately fell to No. 2 North Carolina 4-1 in the championship of the 2021 ITA National Team Indoor Championship Sunday night in Champaign, Ill.

The Bears (11-2) were unable to overcome dropping the doubles point early and could only scratch up one singles victory to avoid being blanked by the Tar Heels. UNC (6-0) tallied singles wins on courts one, three and four to seal the victory.

BU was looking for its first tournament title since winning the national event in 2005. This is the first time the Bears have collected two wins at National Indoors since 2015.

UNC collected the opening point with doubles wins in the third position by Benjamin Sigouin/Rinky Hijikata over Spencer Furman/Nick Stachowiak, 6-2, and the No. 5-ranked pairing of Mac Kiger/Simon Soendergaard against Charlie Broom/Matias Soto, 6-4 on court two.

In a showdown on the top doubles court, BU’s 10th-ranked Constantin Frantzen/Sven Lah battled No. 6 William Blumberg/Brian Cernoch to a 5-5 deadlock before being interrupted by final tallies in the other matches.

As singles began, Baylor got on the board first as No. 103 Broom stayed hot with his fifth straight-set win in a row, defeating No. 100 Joshua Peck 6-0, 6-3 at No. 5 to even the match score.

However, No. 43 Lah couldn’t hold off No. 41 Sigouin, falling 6-3, 7-5 on court three, No. 46 Adrian Boitan battled in a second-set tiebreaker but dropped his match to No. 2 Blumberg 6-3 at the No. 1 spot, 7-6(3), and No. 74 Stachowiak was narrowly bested by Cernoch on court four 7-6(3), 7-5 to give the Tar Heels the championship.

HIGHLIGHTS
• This is the first time Baylor has won two matches at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship since 2015.
• BU fell to 0-5 all-time against the Tar Heels.
• Baylor dropped to 9-4 this season in the doubles point.
• The Bears are now 3-1 in matches when losing the doubles point.
• Baylor is a combined 51-8 in singles play this dual season and 25-11 in doubles.
• No. 103 Charlie Broom collected his fifth-consecutive straight-sets victory, defeating No. 100 Joshua Peck 6-0, 6-3.
• Broom leads the Bears with eight wins this spring.

STAT OF THE MATCH
5 – Charlie Broom collected his fifth-consecutive straight-sets victory by defeating No. 100 Joshua Peck 6-0, 6-3.

TOP QUOTES
Interim head coach Michael Woodson
On tonight’s loss…
“I’m extremely proud of these guys. I don’t even know where to begin. It’s just an unbelievable group of young men that just believe in each other so much and love each other so much. It’s tough to take a loss like this. But for us, it’s just another opportunity to compete. This year is about playing with each other and developing toward something special in April and May. To be able to have these types of opportunities in a global pandemic, we’re super thankful for. So, credit to the ITA and the University of Illinois for putting on a heck of an event. It wasn’t what we wanted today, but I think we learned a lot and we’ll be ready for the future. Very impressive tournament from the guys.”

On the team’s performance this weekend…
“It was a great weekend. I’m so incredibly proud of these guys. They’re continuing to learn and grow together and develop together. They have so much belief in themselves and each other that it’s legitimately right to the end, we just all feel like we’re going to win. None of these guys are going to let the other ones down in any way. And just to hear them talk about each other and see how they react to each other and love each other is really special. Just enjoying that opportunity every day to be with them.”

WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears (11-2) will take a week off to rest and recover before returning to the courts for a doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 21 against Trinity and UT Arlington. The two matches are currently set to begin at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. CT at the Hurd Tennis Center, Baylor’s first outdoor matches of 2021.

For the latest news on the Baylor men’s tennis team all season long, follow their official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorMTennis.

-BaylorBears.com-


__________________________________

Max Calderone | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (VB, MTEN, EQ)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-3073 | C: 254-265-1639

[signature_1435832460]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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