Four Bears Named ITA All-Americans

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – June 7, 2021

Four Bears Named ITA All-Americans
Boitan, Frantzen, Soto become first-time honorees, Lah picks up second-career honor
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

TEMPE, Ariz. – Four Baylor men’s tennis players have been named 2021 ITA All-Americans, as officially announced Monday by the organization.

Adrian Boitan (singles), Constantin Frantzen (doubles) and Matias Soto (singles) each received their first-career honors, while Sven Lah (doubles) is now a two-time honoree.

“The accomplishment of being named an All-American in tennis is one of the rarest and highest honors one can achieve in college. These four have displayed an incredible consistency this year that helped propel themselves and this team to magnificent success all season,” said head coach Michael Woodson. “They deserve this recognition, and I couldn’t be more proud of each of these young men.”

The quartet represents Baylor’s 23rd and 24th singles honorees and 17th and 18th doubles selections in program history.

Boitan, a third-year sophomore, earned All-American status after reaching the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship. The Constanta, Romania, native finished the season ranked No. 12 in the nation with a 21-6 record that included 13 victories over ranked opponents. Over his last 21 matches, Boitan went an impressive 15-2 with 10 ranked wins and was unbeaten in postseason team play.

“Adrian truly embraced the challenge of being the number one singles player on a national championship-caliber team, improving with every practice and every match. His success throughout the year is a direct reflection of the effort he put in to making sure he delivered the goods for the time every time they took the court together,” said Woodson. “I’m so proud of what he has accomplished, and I know that the best is yet to come.”

Playing primarily at the No. 2 singles position, Soto went 20-7 in his fourth-year junior campaign and automatically earned All-America recognition as a 9-16 seeded participant at the NCAA Singles Championship. After bowing out in the first round of the individual competition, Soto finished the season ranked No. 10 after tallying an 11-7 mark against ranked foes.

“Matias has been a stalwart in the top two spots in our singles and doubles lineup throughout his entire time at Baylor, so to see him put together a top-10 ranked singles campaign is both earned and deserved,” said Woodson. “He has become more and more consistent as a leader both on and off the court for the Bears, and I’m excited to see where he continues to lead us.”

Lah received All-American notoriety for the second time in his career after being seeded 5-8 at the NCAA Doubles Championship alongside Frantzen. Following a 20-13 fourth-year junior season, Lah became BU’s third doubles player with at least two All-America awards, joining three-time honoree Benedikt Dorsch and two-time recipient Matija Zgaga. Lah went 16-10 with Frantzen this season, placing as high as No. 9 in the regular-season Oracle/ITA rankings.

For the first time in his illustrious career, Frantzen was named an All-American. The fifth-year senior captain owns BU’s all-time school record with 112 career doubles wins. Frantzen and Lah finished the year ranked No. 5 in the final 2021 poll.

“Sven and Coni produced some of the best doubles in college tennis in the shortened 2020 season, so I was eager to see them get back to work in 2021. The pandemic set them back through injuries and time apart, but the work they put in together throughout the spring was inspirational and led to some incredible performances when the lights shined the brightest and the team needed them the most,” said Woodson. “Their run to the national semifinals was fitting of the level they brought all season. Their competitive spirit will be missed as a team, but I know Coni has big things to bring this world both on and off the court, while Sven has big goals for himself and our team with his final year in 2022.”

The Bears rounded out the 2021 campaign as NCAA National Finalists and ITA National Indoor Championship runners-up with a program-record 34 victories on the year. For the first time in team history, BU had representatives in the semifinals of both the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships (Boitan, Frantzen/Lah). Baylor also added to its trophy collection with a share of the Big 12 regular-season title and the conference tournament crown, its 23rd and 24th Big 12 championships all-time.

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_6241563]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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