No. 17 Baylor MT Bests No. 60 SMU, UTRGV in Home Doubleheader

Sun Feb 25 21:26:37 CST 2024

Note: The ITA re-calculated the Feb. 20 rankings over the weekend due to a technical error. The Bears moved up to No. 17, while SMU dropped to No. 60.

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 25, 2024

No. 17 Baylor MT Bests No. 60 SMU, UTRGV in Home Doubleheader
Bears stay perfect at 8-0 in Waco
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 opened the Hurd Tennis Center for the 2024 season on Sunday afternoon hosting No. 60 SMU and UTRGV in a doubleheader.

The Bears (12-1) took a 4-2 win over the Mustangs (8-5) in front of a crowd of nearly 350 fans before dominating the Vaqueros (4-11), 6-1, to close the day.

THE RUNDOWN – MATCH ONE

The Bears clinched the doubles point behind two quick wins on the first and third courts. Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz got their first ranked win of the year together at that No. 1 spot over No. 46 Adam Neff and Huntley Allen, 6-3. Moments later, Julian Steinhausen and Maks Silagy fell to Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Christopher Frantzen, 6-2.

In singles, BU pushed through four three-set matches at Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 6.

Luc Koenig was the first finisher at No. 5, defeating Jerry Barton in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. The Mustangs’ star freshman, Trevor Svajda, gave the visitors their first point with a 6-3, 6-3, win over Paroulek at Court One.

Trading off points again, No. 83 Zsombor Velcz beat No. 97 Neff, the reigning AAC Player of the Week, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, before Liam Krall handed No. 75 Devin Badenhorst his first loss of the season, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Brostrom Poulsen found himself in the third-set clinching position yet again, trading blow-for-blow against Maks Silagy. Ultimately Brostrom Poulsen was victorious, 5-6, 6-5, 7-6(5), to end the first match of the Bears’ doubleheader.

MATCH TWO

It was another quick doubles point played out at the Hurd on Sunday evening, as the Bears clinched from wins on Court One and Three.

Koenig and Ethan Muza jumped out quickly and took a 6-0 win over Santiago Serrango and Agustin Salazar, and Frantzen and Brostrom Poulsen got their second win of the day, 6-3, over Emilien Burnel and Ivo Isqueiro.

Muza stretched his singles win streak to seven on Saturday with his victory over Serrango, 6-1, 6-2. Marko Miladinovic got a win in his only match of the day in singles, defeating Isqueiro with a pair of 6-3 sets. With another repeat-set win, Arman Zamani beat Paolo Bonaguro, 6-1, 6-1, for the fourth win of his career to clinch the match.

Continuing play, Koenig beat Burnel in front of an enthusiastic crowd, 6-3, 6-2, to give the Bears their fifth point of the match. In the final point earned for BU, Martin Breysach took a 10-point breaker from Salazar at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(8).

The last and only point of the night for UTRGV came in the form of a 6-2, 5-7, 1-0(5) win, where Will Roberts beat Justin Braverman.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   The Bears move to 12-1 on the season, second only in the last 10 seasons to the 13-0 start in 2022.
  *   BU remains perfect at home, winning eight straight.
  *   Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz picked up their first ranked doubles win of the season against SMU’s 46th-ranked pairing of Adam Neff and Huntley Allen, while also regaining the team lead in doubles victories this spring at seven.
  *   Ethan Muza won his team-leading seventh-straight singles match.
  *   Zsombor Velcz won his second-straight singles match over a ranked foe in his three-set victory over SMU’s Adam Neff.
  *   Despite the loss, Devin Badenhorst stays in sole possession of team-leading singles wins at eight.

QUOTABLE

Head coach Michael Woodson

On the team’s performance in the doubleheader…

“SMU was far better than their current ranking, and they’re only going to go up from here. I have a ton of respect for that program and the veteran guys. Their young guys are well coached and we knew it was going to be tough. We did a really good job of getting on top of them early on doubles, which might’ve given us a false sense of security going into singles. Credit to Luc [Koenig] for getting off the court quick and credit to Teddy [Paroulek] who wasn’t feeling well and was under the weather today. He still found a way to get out there and fight for a while. I think that continues to be a theme for us. We continue to be a gritty group and we’re very fit. As the match wears on, our best tennis comes out and we’re able to create space and give ourselves opportunities that other teams wouldn’t. I thought our guys did a great job with their backs against the wall, playing the right way and backing themselves with each other. With a quick turnaround to play against UTRGV, a feisty team, it’s not as easy and I think some guys really stepped up there. They had great energy early to get through doubles and stretch some singles leads. So credit to guys like Ethan [Muza], Arman [Zamani], and Louis [Bowden] for coming right back out, playing again and just getting off the court quick. It was good to see some guys battle there at the end. Obviously went Martin’s [Breysach] way, didn’t go Justin’s [Braverman] way, but we need situations like that to get better.”

On getting more comfortable in the doubles point…

“We’re starting to play some really good doubles. We’ve been focusing on it in practice, and I think the teams are starting to jive well together and get comfortable with each other. To get ahead early like we do at Three and at One, even at Two, we were doing a good job at playing a big point smart. Maybe we didn’t execute throughout a ton of the games, but we got it when it mattered. We have to be ready to go at the start. I think for the last few matches we have done that, and it really helps us get going.”

UP NEXT

The Bears host No. 1 Ohio State on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. Fans can receive free Chick-fil-A sandwiches, while supplies last.

- 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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