No. 24 Baylor MT Defeats Jacksonville State, Nebraska in Doubleheader

Sat Feb 3 21:53:43 CST 2024

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 3, 2024

No. 24 Baylor MT Defeats Jacksonville State, Nebraska in Doubleheader
BU moves to 6-1 while staying perfect at home
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 collected two wins on Saturday at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. The Bears (6-1) took Jacksonville State (2-3) down, 6-1, in the morning before closing the day with an electric atmosphere against Nebraska (5-2), where Baylor won, 7-0.

THE RUNDOWN

MATCH ONE

The doubles duo of Devin Badenhorst and Luc Koenig extended their win streak together to three, as they defeated Marko Milosavljevic and Zach Murphy, 6-1, in the first match of the day. Playing together for the first time, Christopher Frantzen and Oskar Brostrom Poulsen clinched the doubles point, after putting down Ivan Marrero Curbelo and Liam Day, 6-3.

The final doubles match of Martin Breysach and Zsombor Velcz was left unfinished while being knotted at 5-all.

Sophomore Arman Zamani moved to 2-0 in his dual-match career, following a 6-3, 6-2, win over Day at Court Six for Point No. 2 for BU. Coming back after his loss at Arizona State, freshman Louis Bowden took Matei Palcau down in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.

Junior Marko Miladinović won the clincher on Saturday right at noon, after holding off a late surge from Milosavljevic, 6-2, 7-6(0).

Continuing play, Brostrom Poulsen and Paroulek both forced third sets after falling in their firsts. No. 32 Paroulek finished off No. 45 Marrero Curbelo, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, but Brostrom Poulsen eventually fell to Vanja Dobrnjac, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

Ethan Muza won his first singles match since the season-opening doubleheader in January. The junior split the first two sets but held nothing back to take Set Three at the match, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

MATCH TWO

In front of a crowd of 289, the Bears fought and clawed to clinch the doubles point from wins on three and one.

Brostrom Poulsen and Frantzen pulled away late in their match to earn the 7-5 victory, while Paroulek and Velcz traded blows with Nic Wiedenhom and Anton Shepp until the BU came out with the 7-6(3) tie-break win. Court Two with Koenig and Badenhorst was also knotted up in a tiebreak but was left unfinished at 6-6(3-3).

Koenig was first to strike in singles, rolling to a quick 6-1, 6-2 win on Court Five over Nebraska’s Nic Wiedenhorn, 6-1, 6-2. After a battle in the first set, Velcz quickly put Shepp away at two, 7-5, 6-1.

Court Four clinched the match for BU, as Brostrom Poulsen fought off Shunya Maruyama, 6-1. 7-5. Moments later, Badenhorst won in a second-set breaker, 6-2, 7-6(2).

With the last two matches going to 10-point tie breakers, Breysach took down Rudi Christiansen, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 and Mueller was downed by No. 32 Paroulek, 6-4, 3-6, 10-7, to complete the sweep.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   BU moves to 4-0 at home.
  *   Tadeas Paroulek earned his first ranked win of the 2024 dual match season.
  *   The Bears are 5-2 in clinching the doubles point.
  *   Devin Badenhorst and Oskar Brostrom Poulsen both gained their team-leading fifth singles win of the spring season.
  *   In doubles, both Tadeas Paroulek/Zsombor Velcz and Devin Badenhorst/Luc Koenig lead the team at 4-1.

WHAT THEY SAID

Head coach Michael Woodson

On the team in Saturday’s matches…

“It feels like we’re a talented group with some names that have been around a while, but we really haven’t been in tough situations that much. And last year was kind of weird, even the sophomores didn’t have some of these environments that they need right now. It feels like everything is so new for these guys, which is fun, but it also keeps us on our toes as coaches. These guys really love being around each other, and they don’t care who’s out on the court. They just love to cheer for each other, and you can kind of see that when they’re playing, it makes it better for us too. We’re building momentum, they’re starting to realize they’re pretty good, but we need to keep working. Our goals extend beyond what we’re doing right now. We want to win championships, and I think this team can do it.”

On the lineup options…

“I have a ton of confidence in every guy. This is a totally different dynamic than we had last year, and I think the mark of a great team is when the coach isn’t sure who to play. We were able to play eleven guys today over two matches and feel very confident that they were going to be able to get the job done. The only guy that lost this morning won tonight and it’s amazing. I feel a ton of confidence in them and I think it helps to be able to look to your right and look to your left and be like know that these guys got me.”

UP NEXT

Baylor stays home to host Tulsa on Feb. 11 and USC on Feb. 12.

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

- BaylorBears.com –

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

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

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