No. 14 Baylor MT Looks to Bounce Back at No. 19 Illinois

[Pirtle, Colin]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 29, 2024

No. 14 Baylor MT Looks to Bounce Back at No. 19 Illinois
Bears face Fighting Illini Friday at 6 p.m. CT
For more information contact: Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu<mailto:colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu>


URBANA, Ill. – The No. 14 Baylor men’s tennis team will head north for a match against No. 19 Illinois at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, March 1, at the Atkins Tennis Center. It will be the nightcap in a doubleheader, as Illinois is also hosting Eastern Illinois.



Baylor (12-2) is coming off its second loss of the season on Wednesday night to No. 1 Ohio State, 4-1, while Illinois (5-2) is the winner of three straight, defeating Notre Dame last. Both squads have only lost to top-20 teams in the ITA rankings.



The Bears have the edge all-time against the Fighting Illini, leading 9-7. Illinois won last season’s match-up, 4-2, at the Hurd Tennis Center. In that match, Illinois took the doubles point before Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz had singles wins on Courts One and Three, respectively.



BU’s overall singles record this year is 59-16 while doubles stands at 28-7. BU has taken nine straight doubles points dating back to Feb. 3 against Jacksonville State. Illinois has fared well so far in singles, going 20-16, with an overall 12-6 record in doubles.



The Bears’ three ranked players headline singles, as Paroulek stays at No. 35, freshman Devin Badenhorst is 75th and Velcz is ranked 83rd.



Illinois has three ranked players within reach of each other. Karlis Ozolins leads at No. 41, while Kenta Miyoshi is 46th and Hunter Heck is 47th.



The Bears remain unranked throughout doubles but have two six-match win streaks from the primary players on the second and third courts. The Badenhorst and Luc Koenig duo is 7-1 and defeated Ohio State’s Justin Boulais/Alexander Bernard tandem on Wednesday. Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Christopher Frantzen remain unbeaten at 6-0 and have been a strong pairing since their first match together on Feb. 3.



Illinois boasts the No. 2 duo in the country of Heck and Ozolins, who are 5-1 this dual match season with a perfect 4-0 record at Court Two. Also ranked for the Fighting Illini are Lucas Horve and Oliver Okonkwo, tied at the final spot on the list, No. 59.



Live stats and Playsight video are available to follow the match on FightingIllini.com<https://fightingillini.com/sports/2016/1/14/mtennis_livestatsvideo>.



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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