Baylor MT Sunday Cleans with Wins Over New Mexico and Rice

[Hutton, Josie]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 2, 2025

Baylor MT Sunday Cleans with Wins Over New Mexico and Rice
Bears grab 6-1 wins in double-header
New Mexico Box Score<https://baylorbears.com/documents/2025/2/2/BU_MT_07_NewMexico_2024-25.pdf> | Rice Box Score<https://baylorbears.com/documents/2025/2/2/BU_MT_08_Rice_2024-25.pdf>
For more information contact: Josie Hutton; 254-709-7720, josie_hutton at baylor.edu<mailto:josie_hutton at baylor.edu>



WACO, Texas – Coming off a heartbreaker loss on Friday night against No. 10 San Diego, Baylor men’s tennis responded with two solid wins over New Mexico and Rice on Sunday in Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center, winning both matches 6-1.



Out of the 12 singles matches played throughout the day, Baylor won 11 to capitalize on the day. Oskar Brostrom Poulsen continues his hot streak, going 5-0 in singles to start his spring season.



THE RUNDOWN

MATCH ONE

Baylor started down, still not fully recovered from Friday’s battle, as New Mexico took the early lead and secured victories on Courts One and Three in doubles to gain the doubles point.



Focusing forward on singles, the Bears bounced back with Marko Miladinovic taking down the Lobos’s Avery Tallakson 7-5, 6-0 on Court Six. Alexandru Chirita also had a dominant victory on Court Five with a 6-2, 6-2 dub.



On Court Three, Luc Koenig extend BU’s lead defeating Daniil Kakhniuk 6-4, 6-4. No. 25 Devin Badenhorst gave Baylor the win with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on Court One.



Playing through singles competition, No. 54 Zsombor Velcz kept Baylor on its hot streak with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 on Court Four. No. 58 Oskar Brostrom Poulsen completed the singles sweep with a hard-fought battle on Court Two garnering a 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 win, with Baylor defeating New Mexico 6-1 and securing a singles sweep.



MATCH TWO

Returning to Hawkins Indoor just a mere two hours later, Baylor had something to prove in doubles as it faced off against the Rice Owls for the first time in over a decade. The No. 3 duo of Miladinovic and Brostrom Poulsen took on ranked opponents of No. 43 Kapasi and de la Bassetiere and held nothing back, earning an absolute dominant ranked win 6-0. On Court Three, Velcz and Chirita teamed up for the second time of the day and responded with another bagel win for the Bears, 6-0, to get the Bears on the board.



In singles, five Bears took their matches in straight sets. All five Bears only allowed no more than three points by the Owls in the second set.



Koenig made quick work against Rice’s Sendogan, putting on a performance and earning a 6-2, 6-3 win. Following right behind him was his South African teammate Badenhorst who also grabbed a 6-2, 6-3 victory.



Miladinovic continued to find success on Court Six with a 6-3, 6-2 win. Alexandru Chirita battled out a first set tie-breaker and kept his momentum with him in the second to give Baylor the final point of the day at 7-6(4), 6-3.



Louis Bowden was the lone Bear on the day to fall in singles, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.



HEAD COACH MICHAEL WOODSON

On coming back from Friday’s loss to earn two wins in the double-header…

“Friday was tough. I think they were tired, more emotionally than anything, but also physically. They came out this morning and I could kind of tell before the match that this wasn’t going to go very well. I tried to give them the old rah-rah talk and they came out flat as possible. That was one of the worst doubles points we’ve played in years. We had to really challenge them to get up off the mat in singles. I thought they did a pretty good job against New Mexico. We talked about after that match that we’re tired, we’re sore, we’re mentally somewhere else. But it doesn’t matter. If we’re going to win a national championship, we’re going to feel like we were going into this match on the third and fourth day of National Indoors … They just need get used to feeling tired and competing. We don’t need to practice more. We need to compete and do it well when things don’t feel good.



“The Rice match was way better. We were intentional about really trying to swing first in doubles and punch first. Two 6-0s almost never happens … Rice’s No. 1 doubles team is nationally ranked and made the finals in a sectional and played in the NCAA Tournament, and we won 6-0. It was more us than them. I was really proud of that. We were able to carry that into singles with five first sets. Louis is battling some physical issues but hung around and did a great job. All the other guys got done in two sets, so I was really impressed with them. I think that was a step forward today.”



On senior Brostrom Poulsen being undefeated in singles thus far into the spring…

“Oskar’s done a heck of a job. He’s grown so much as a player, as a person, as a leader. He’s just really comfortable and confident in his surroundings. He loves this team and this university to death, and he’s working his butt off every single day to make everybody around him proud. I think that’s the coolest part is he’s not really playing for himself. He’s playing for everybody else, and when you do that, it’s more fun and you usually have success. Credit to him and he’s doing an awesome job.”



WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears now prepare to hit the road in the upcoming weekend, playing at Nebraska on Friday and Ohio State on Sunday.



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