No. 4 Baylor MT Starts Big 12 Play with Sweep of No. 11 Texas

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 4 Baylor men’s tennis swept No. 11 Texas on Friday night at the Texas Tennis Center, 6-0, to begin conference play for the Big 12.

The Bears (19-2, 1-0) took all six second-sets in singles en route to besting the Longhorns (11-8, 0-1).
Head coach Michael Woodson improves to 5-1 in Big 12 matches with the sweep of UT, and BU is now 9-2 against nationally-ranked opponents this season.

THE RUNDOWN

The Bears took the doubles point to start the match off right with court two and three getting the job done. Court three had Adrian Boitan and Tadeas Paroulek besting Micah Braswell and Chih Chi Huang, 6-3, for the win. On court two, Matias Soto and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi earned a ranked win, 6-4, over No. 58 Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab to clinch. Court one went unfinished with 23rd ranked pair Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper up 5-4 over No. 30-ranked Sven Lah and Finn Bass.

With the wins, Boitan/Paroulek improve to 9-3 while Grassi Mazzuchi/Soto improve to 13-4. The duo of Bass/Lah remain 9-5 in dual play.

Starting BU off in singles was Bass on court four, winning 6-4, 6-2 over No. 47 Ciamarra to improve to 13-4 on the dual season and 39-12 in his career. Next to finish was No. 50 Soto on court two over No. 19 Pierre-Yves Bailly, 6-1, 6-3 to give the Bears their third point and to improve his dual-match record to 9-5 and career to 82-38. Clinching the match for BU was No. 14 Boitan on court one, winning 6-1, 6-4 over 24th-ranked Braswell. With the win, Boitan stays unbeaten on the spring at 14-0 and is now 62-16 in his career.

Playing the match out, Paroulek bested No. 85 Woldeab on court five, 6-3, 6-3, to make him 8-1 on the spring. On court two, No. 15 Lah and No. 66 Spizzirri went unfinished in the third set, Spizzirri winning the first set 6-3, Lah taking set two at 6-4, and stopping play tied at 1-1. Finishing the match was Grassi Mazzuchi on court six, winning 4-6, 6-4, 10-4 over Harper and improving his spring record to 17-2.

QUOTABLE – Head Coach Michael Woodson

“I’m excited to be playing at home in a couple of days. It’s been a real test on these guys over the last six-plus weeks; playing in difficult environment after difficult environment. We play Texas so often and we have so much respect for them, and the environment they put on at home – it’s tough to play there. For us to have the performance that we did today speaks volumes to what the guys are doing and how the older guys are showing the younger guys the way. It’s been special to be a part of. These last few matches were trap matches for us, having been on the road for so long. Teams like Texas are chomping at the bit to get some revenge, so we expected their best tennis. They came out firing and in our face, and I thought we handled it very well. We were able to get on them early in singles after sneaking out a good doubles point, and we were able to stretch some leads. The other day against TCU we took all six first sets in singles and I thought that was really impressive, but today we took all six second sets, which is somehow more impressive. We need to keep pushing. There’s room for improvement and the guys know that, but we feel good about this and are excited to come home for what will be an absolute war on Sunday.” 

NEXT UP

The Bears return to their home court for the first time since Feb. 12, facing No. 3 TCU on Sunday, Apr. 3, at 1 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center for a gold-out match. There will be free gold t-shirts, cookies and pizza while supplies last.

To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor men’s tennis, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorMTennis.

TENNIS RESULTS

#4 Baylor (6) at #11 Texas (0)

Austin, Texas – Texas Tennis Center

Big 12 Conference Match

SINGLES COMPETITION

1. #15 Adrian Boitan (BU) def. #24 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-1, 6-4
2. #50 Matias Soto (BU) def. #19 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-1, 6-3
3. #31 Sven Lah (BU) vs. #66 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 3-6, 6-4, 1-1 unfinished
4. Finn Bass (BU) def. #47 Richard Ciamarra (UT) 6-4, 6-2
5. Tadeas Paroulek (BU) def. #85 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-3, 6-3
6. Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi (BU) def. Cleeve Harper (UT) 4-6, 6-4, 10-4

Order of finish: 4, 2, 1, 5, 6

DOUBLES COMPETITION

1. #23 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (UT) vs. #30 Sven Lah/Finn Bass (BU) 5-4 unfinished
2. Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi/Matias Soto (BU) def. #58 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-4
3. Adrian Boitan/Tadeas Paroulek (BU) def. Micah Braswell/Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 2