Baylor earns spot in National Championship with 4-2 win over Tennessee

Head coach Michael Woodson gives immediate reaction.

ORLANDO, Fla. — No. 1-ranked and second-seeded Baylor men’s tennis outlasted No. 3 Tennessee 4-2 on Friday at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., to advance to the NCAA National Championship.

The Bears (34-4) have set a school-record for wins in a single season, breaking the previous program best from 2005, which was also the last time BU reached the national title match.

Baylor overcame dropping the doubles point and took four of five finished singles matches to defeat the Volunteers (28-4). With the Bears leading 3-2, Adrian Boitan and Matias Soto were locked in extremely tight third sets before Soto was able to clinch.

In doubles, BU collected the first victory with a 6-3 tally on court three by Finn Bass/Charlie Broom over Giles Hussey/Mark Wallner. However, the Vols answered with simultaneous wins on one and two, with No. 4 Pat Harper/Adam Walton besting No. 9 Constantin Frantzen/Sven Lah 7-5 and Johannus Monday/Martim Prata edging No. 75 Soto/Nick Stachowiak.

Singles started slow for the Bears, with the two sides splitting the six first sets. However, Baylor made its move following a UT win on court five by No. 92 Hussey over Broom, 6-4, 6-2.

On court three, Lah recorded a blistering 6-0, 6-3 victory against Prata to put BU on the board, and Spencer Furman quickly followed that up with a 6-3, 6-2 win on court six against Andrew Rogers to knot the score.

After falling behind in a one-sided first set, Stachowiak rallied to put the third point on the board for Baylor, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 on court four over Luca Wiedenmann.

That’s when it came down to Boitan and Soto on the top two courts. No. 21 Boitan came back from dropping his opener to force a decisive third against No. 10 Walton, while No. 11 Soto fought tough against No. 8 Monday.

With the match on court one deadlocked at 3-6, 7-5, 5-5, it was Soto who prevailed on two with a 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5 victory to send the Bears through.