No. 11 Baylor MT Falls to No. 4 Michigan, 5-2

[Pirtle, Colin]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – February 3, 2023

No. 11 Baylor MT Falls to No. 4 Michigan, 5-2
452 fans break Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center attendance record
For more information contact: Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu<mailto:colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu>


WACO, Texas – Baylor men’s tennis lost to the fourth-ranked Michigan Wolverines, 5-2, on Friday evening at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.



BU (5-2) welcomed 452 fans to the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center, the highest recorded attendance in the 10th season of the facility, breaking the previous record of 431 set against Virginia last season. The Bears also claimed two singles victories over a Wolverine squad (7-0) that entered the match at 24-1 in singles play.



THE RUNDOWN

The Bears started out doubles with leads on Courts One and Two, but the Wolverines attacked first on Court Three, with Jacob Bickersteth and Will Cooksey taking a 6-2 win over Luc Koenig and Ethan Muza. Court One saw a fight to the end, but No. 14 Gavin Young and Andrew Fenty found a 6-4 victory over BU’s Finn Bass and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi.



No. 59 Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz left their match unfinished, knotted a five-all.



No. 20 Young saw the first singles victory for Michigan on Court Four, taking a 6-3, 6-3 win over Grassi Mazzuchi. The Bears had an answer from Velcz, who had a two-set win on five over Bickerstech, 7-6(3), 6-3 to improve to a perfect 5-0 record on the season.



Court Two held the Wolverines third point with Patrick Maloney defeating No. 23 Bass, 7-6(1), 6-3, before the match was clinched on four with a three-set win from No. 6 Fenty, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, over Marko Miladinović, who moves to 5-2 in singles play this season.



Muza fought back in his singles match on Court Six after dropping the second set, to take home the 6-4, 5-7, 1-0(4) victory and win point No. 2 for Baylor.



No. 1 singles featured a hometown reunion between Paroulek and 16th-ranked Styler, who both hail from Prague, Czech Republic. It was a three-set battle, but Styler walked away with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 win.



STAT OF THE MATCH

452 – Number of fans at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center, the most in its history.



QUOTABLE

Head coach Michael Woodson

On Friday’s match…

“I really challenged them after the doubles. I thought we started out well in doubles and then our energy sagged as a team. I don’t know that I can ask a lot more than the effort they put out there. They fought all the way to the end on all the courts. It didn’t happen tonight, but we fought really hard – and it was great to have a crowd like that. It’s incredible, and credit to everybody who came out for it. We need that and we appreciate it. I hope it was as much fun for them as it was for us.”



On the success found on five and six from Ethan Muza and Zsombor Velcz…

“I think they’re doing an amazing job of playing beyond their years under pressure. They’re really, really hard to beat under pressure and sometimes I would love for them to play well when there isn’t as much pressure. We talk about that a little bit, but those guys are backing themselves when it gets hard and they’re delivering. In this environment, it’s who can play close to their level in the big moments, because it’s not easy to do that. And those guys are doing that. They’re starting to gain confidence and putting wins on the board like they did today will certainly do that for them.”



Looking forward to Wednesday’s match…

“It doesn’t get any easier. It’s not going to be easy but I think we’re right there. We’ve played the No. 1 team in the country, the No. 4 in the country, the No.  9 team in the country in a matter of two weeks. So whatever comes out at us on Wednesday night is not going to be a surprise. We’ll just have to continue to get better at the little things, court to court, work on a couple things in doubles that have let us down and we’ll be ready to go.”



Freshman Zsombor Velcz

On the crowd…

“It is amazing every time we play at home. The crowd is amazing every time. Big credit to them, it’s a huge help for us and the team.”



WHAT’S NEXT

Baylor returns to the court to welcome Big 12 foe TCU on Wednesday for a non-conference bout at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.



- BaylorBears.com -

_________________________________________
Colin Pirtle | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (T&F, XC, MTEN)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 940-564-0351

[signature_2230589939]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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