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No. 4 Men's Tennis Punches Ticket To National Indoors By Defeating Texas A&M 4-1

February 8, 2021
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DALLAS – No. 4 Baylor men’s tennis (9-1) battled to a 4-1 win over No. 9 Texas A&M (2-1) Sunday at the SMU Tennis Complex to punch its ticket to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.

After dropping the doubles point, the Bears came back strong with four-straight singles victories to clinch the match. Three of the singles wins were in straight sets and two were against ranked opponents.

The Bears improved to 20-0 all-time at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend and booked its 10th trip to the national event.

A&M gathered the first win of the day in doubles, as Hady Habib/Noah Schachter defeated Adrian Boitan/Nick Stachowiak 6-3 on court two. On court one, the No. 10-ranked pairing of Constantin Frantzen/Sven Lah held off A&M’s Juan Carlos Aguilar/Bjorn Thomson 6-4, putting all eyes on court three.

In a very tight match, Charlie Broom/Matias Soto fell to Valentin Vacherot/Pierce Rollins to give the Aggies the doubles point. Broom/Soto were leading 5-2 in the tiebreaker, but A&M’s duo battled back to secure the win 7-6(5).

As singles got underway, the Bears started hot with five first-set wins, including two in tiebreakers. No. 56 Soto gathered a 12-10 tiebreak win on court two, while No. 43 Lah garnered a 7-5 tiebreak win on three to each hold a set advantage. The only Bear to drop his first set was No. 74 Stachowiak in a grueling 13-11 decision.

BU’s Spencer Furman wasted no time and was the first to finish, winning his contest 6-2, 6-2 over Raphael Perot on court six and evening the overall match score. No. 103 Broom was the next off the court, climbing back from a 4-1 hole in the first set to defeat Guido Marson 7-5, 6-2.

Soto didn’t waste any time in his second set, finishing off No. 13 Hady Habib 7-6(10), 6-1 for Baylor’s third point. It is his highest-ranked win of the season and third of the spring.

With the Bears just one point away, three players were locked in tight matchups and headed to third sets. No. 46 Boitan was battling against No. 4 Vacherot after each player won a set 6-4, Stachowiak evened things up with a 7-6(1) win in the second set over Schachter, and Lah was fighting after dropping his second set 6-1.

At one point trailing to No. 33 Aguilar 4-0 in the final frame, Lah showed his strength and resolve to climb back in the match. He brought the set to 4-3, then fought off two match points to draw even at 5-5, and used that momentum to propel the Bears to a fourth singles win, 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-5.


HIGHLIGHTS

• This is Baylor’s third win of the season against an opponent ranked in the top-10.

• Baylor improved to 20-0 all-time in ITA Kick-Off Weekend matches and advanced to the national event for the 10th time in program history.
• BU has won five of its last seven meetings with Texas A&M.

• The Bears are 7-3 this season in the doubles point.
• Baylor is now 3-0 this season when losing the doubles point.
• BU is now a combined 45-5 in singles action this season and 21-8 in doubles matches.
• No. 43 Sven Lah and No. 56 Matias Soto each collected singles wins over ranked opponents.

• Lah defeated No. 33 Juan Carlos Aguilar, his first ranked win of the year.
• Soto topped No. 13 Hady Habib, his highest-ranked win since 2019 and third of the spring season.


STAT OF THE MATCH

4-0 – Sven Lah was trailing 4-0 in the third set of his match and battled back to win 7-5, clinching the match for Baylor.

TOP QUOTE
Interim head coach Michael Woodson

On advancing to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship…

“I feel like it’s right where we belong. I’m really excited about it. There’s absolutely no one that has played anywhere near the caliber of schedule that we have, and these guys deserve it. They’ve answered the call and we’ve responded well to adversity. We’re just thrilled to be able to go to Champaign and be able to test ourselves against the best of the best. We can’t wait.”

Fourth-year junior Sven Lah

On the team playing with confidence…

“As a team, I think we did a great job of bouncing back from tough situations. We have maybe the most complete team in the country, one through six, anyone can play on any spot. We trust each other, the guys off the court are doing an amazing job supporting us. In a neutral site, the guys just bring that energy and atmosphere that makes it feel like we’re back in Waco. I’m glad we got a team dub.”

On coming back from down 4-0…

“I was just trying to stay out there because Adi [Boitan] and Nick [Stachowiak] were still out there battling next to me. There’s something about staying on the court a little longer. Bringing it back to 4-2, I felt like I had a good chance to stay with him and that’s what happened. I trusted my skills, trusted my guys, I’ve been in this situation enough to know the guy on the other side feels the nerves to close it out. I’m just happy we got a chance to compete.”


WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears (9-1) are headed to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Champaign, Ill. that will run Feb. 12-14 with a three-match guarantee.

Tags: Tennis, Baylor, 2021
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No. 4 Men's Tennis Punches Ticket To National Indoors By Defeating Texas A&M 4-1

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