No. 10 Men's Tennis Improves to 8-0 with Sunday Sweep
WACO, Texas – Baylor men’s tennis (8-0) recorded its best start to a season since 2005 with 4-0 sweeps over Nebraska and UTRGV Sunday at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
The 8-0 start is the first since the 2005 team who won 33 in a row and finished in the NCAA title match. Most recently, Baylor opened the 2017 season with a 7-0 record.
Baylor improved to 22-3 against Nebraska and 14-10 against UTRGV, improving to 22-1 in its last 23 home matches dating back to 2017.
MATCH ONE: Baylor 4, Nebraska 0
Baylor got out to the hot start in doubles play and used a 6-0 win from third-ranked Jimmy Bendeck and Sven Lah to take the early advantage. Matias Soto and Adrian Boitan paired up and clinched the opening point with a 6-1 victory at the No. 3 spot.
Bendeck opened up singles action with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 effort over Isaac Nortey at the No. 6 spot, followed by 17th-ranked Will Little’s 6-4, 6-2 win against Victor Moreno Lozano at the No. 3 spot.
Lah clinched his second-straight match with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Will Gleason at the No. 4 spot.
MATCH TWO: Baylor 4, UTRGV 0
Baylor picked up where it left off from the first leg of the doubleheader, picking up early leads on all three doubles courts. Soto and Boitan won their second match together with a 6-1 win on court three.
Johannes Schretter and Will Little clinched the opening point with a 6-2 victory at the No. 2 spot, helping Baylor improve to 7-1 in doubles action.
17th-ranked Little won his second match of the day after he came away with a 6-1, 6-0 victory against Clement Sarradin at the No. 3 spot, followed by Bendeck with a 6-0, 6-2 triumph against Zane Kohrs on court six.
Sven Lah clinched the third consecutive match with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Georgije Babic at the No. 4 spot.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor is 22-1 in their last 23 home matches dating back to the 2017 season, including 6-0 in 2019.
• Baylor started 8-0 for the first time since the 2005 season. Baylor won 33 in a row to open the campaign, eventually finishing 33-1 in the NCAA title match against UCLA.
• Baylor is 21-0 at the No. 4-6 singles spots through six matches this season: No. 4 (8-0), No. 5 (6-0), No. 6 (7-0).
• With two wins today, Sven Lah started the spring season 8-0 in singles play.
• Jimmy Bendeck and Will Little improved to 6-0 in singles play this season.
• Baylor is now 7-1 in the doubles point and 6-0 when winning the opening point this season.
• Baylor went 6-0 in straight-set matches on Sunday.
• Baylor improved to 22-3 all-time against Nebraska, extending its winning streak to 22 straight.
• Baylor improved to 14-10 all-time against UTRGV.
STAT OF THE MATCH
8 – the winning streak to open the 2019 campaign, its best start since 2005.
TOP QUOTE
Head coach Brian Boland
On the win…
“I thought we gave what we had. We’re going to need a couple of days to recover. We’ve been going hard for a long time. I was really pleased with the effort they gave. They’re really resilient, gritty and a tough team. It’s certainly proud of what they’ve accomplished. It’s a great start to the season, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. Dealing with adversity is a good part of any journey, and the guys respond to it well.”
WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears (8-0) takes some time off before traveling to top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Wake Forest next Sunday, Feb. 10 at noon CT in Winston-Salem, N.C.