No. 15 Baylor Men's Tennis Upsets No. 4 Michigan 4-0 On The Road

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – January 23, 2021

No. 15 MT Upsets No. 4 Michigan 4-0 On The Road
Bears sweep the Wolverines to advance to ITA Kick-Off Weekend finals
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 15 Baylor men’s tennis (5-0) upset the No. 4-ranked team in the nation on Saturday, sweeping Michigan (0-1) on their home courts 4-0 in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

With the win, the Bears advance to Sunday’s final to face No. 11 Texas A&M at 1 p.m. CT with a trip to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on the line.

BU wasted no time getting on the board, collecting two doubles wins and leaving one unfinished to clinch the point. On court three, Charlie Broom/Matias Soto defeated Nick Beaty/Patrick Maloney, 6-4. Adrian Boitan/Nick Stachowiak quickly followed with a 6-3 win over Connor Johnston/Ondrej Styler on court two to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.

In singles, the Bears won all six first sets before the Wolverines battled back on four courts in the second. No. 56 Soto would be the first to finish, taking down the No. 28-ranked Styler in straight sets without being broken, 6-4, 7-5 on court two, giving the Bears a 2-0 match advantage.

Spencer Furman garnered a straight-set victory over Jacob Bickersteth at the sixth position, 7-5, 6-4, for BU’s third point, and No. 43 Lah bounced back from dropping his second set to win 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 over Siimar for the clincher on court three.

Baylor has now won 10 matches in a row and will look to book its 10th appearance to National Indoors when it returns to face the Aggies on Sunday in Ann Arbor.

HIGHLIGHTS
• This is Baylor’s first win over a top-five opponent since the 2019 Big 12 Championship final vs. No. 2 Texas (BU, 4-1).
• This is Baylor’s first road win over a top-five opponent since March 12, 2014 at No. 3 UCLA (BU, 4-2).
• BU improved to 19-0 all-time at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
• Baylor is 5-0 for the third straight year and fifth time in the last six seasons.
• The Bears have swept four of their first five opponents for the first time since 2010.
• BU extended its current win streak to 10 matches.
• Baylor is 5-0 in the doubles point this season.
• The Bears are a combined 26-1 in singles play and 13-1 in doubles this season.
• Baylor improved to 3-1 all-time against Michigan.
• No. 56 Matias Soto’s victory over No. 28 Ondrej Styler was BU’s first ranked win of the 2021 season.

STAT OF THE MATCH
4 – Baylor won the match 4-0 over No. 4-ranked Michigan.

TOP QUOTES
Interim head coach Michael Woodson
On the win…
“It feels good, I think the guys basically confirmed what we suspected is that we’re really good. Michigan can really play, they’ve gotten better and they’re good indoors on their own courts. But I thought on and off the court, we did a really good job of making it feel like we were playing at home.”

On the lineup’s depth…
“It was a heck of a team effort. All the guys really contributed in order to win this one. We’ve talked about it, there’s not a guy on our team that’s ever played on as complete of a team as we have right now. We really have talent and experience at every single spot. It gives you a sense of comfort when you’re playing to know that the guy next to you on either side has a really good chance to win.”

WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears (5-0) return to Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. for a matchup with No. 11 Texas A&M in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend final on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. The winner of the match will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, set for Feb. 12-14 in Champaign, Ill.

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_490085884]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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