No. 3 Baylor Men's Tennis Prepares for ITA Indoor Championships
SEATTLE, Wash. – Ranked No. 3 and seeded second for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, the Baylor men’s tennis team will face No. 15 Ole Miss at 8:30 p.m. CT Friday at the Seattle Tennis Club.
The Bears (11-0) are coming off two top-10 wins entering the tournament, with junior Adrian Boitan being named Big 12 Player of the Week after going 2-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles against then-No. 9 Texas, Tulsa and No. 7 Virginia.
Along with Ole Miss, the ITA Indoor Championship participants are Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio State, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, USC, Virginia, Wake Forest and host Washington. All included are seeded 1-16, with Baylor being the No. 2 seed and Ole Miss at No. 15. The tournament will be split between the Nordstrom Tennis Center on UW’s campus and the Seattle Tennis Club, with BU on the STC side of the bracket.
Ole Miss is currently 9-1, with all nine wins coming on its home court. The Rebels defeated a then-ranked No. 22 Oklahoma squad in the ITA Kickoff Weekend, but fell to No. 4 TCU on Feb. 6 in Fort Worth for their only road match. The Rebels have played doubleheaders with Tennessee State, Alcorn and North Alabama this season, all at home, as well.
With all six players in the singles lineup being undefeated or having just one loss, Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and Boitan lead the pack with 9-0 and 8-0 dual-match records, respectively. Boitan’s wins have all come on court one.
On the doubles side, all three pairs continue to dominate for the Bears. Baylor’s No. 12 pair of Finn Bass and Sven Lah are now at 6-1 in dual matches on court one. The duo of Matias Soto and Grassi Mazzuchi are holding their own on court two, still undefeated at 8-0. Boitan and Tadeas Paroulek also stay undefeated at 6-0, playing five of their wins on court three and one on court two.
In last season’s Indoor Championships, a field of just eight, BU downed No. 5 Texas, 4-0, then swept Illinois in the semifinals. In the final, No. 2 North Carolina took the match, 4-1, over the Bears with Charlie Broom scoring the lone point on court five.
QUOTABLE – Head Coach Michael Woodson
“It’s a new season, a new tournament. Last year’s tournament was a little bit different, so we’re really not where we were last year yet. To even get to the tournament last year, it was eight. So, I feel like we have a lot of work left to do to be in a position where we were last year. But, definitely fortunate to be in the spot that we’re in and excited to get out there with what I think is maybe the strongest National Indoor field we’ve seen since it started.”
The tournament will be live streamed and live stats will be available, with links coming soon. They can be found on the Baylor men’s tennis schedule once presented. Cracked Racquets will also be providing red zone coverage on its YouTube channel. A full recap and final box scores from each match can be found on BaylorBears.com after the conclusion of each day of play.
