No. 2 Men's Tennis Edged by No. 12 Texas A&M, 4-3
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 2 Baylor men’s tennis was edged 4-3 by No. 12 Texas A&M Thursday afternoon at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station.
The Bears’ (16-3) five-match winning streak was snapped by the Aggies (10-3), unable to overcome dropping the doubles point and splitting the six singles matches.
TAMU snagged the opening point with a 6-3 win by Pierce Rollins/Valentin Vacherot over Charlie Broom/Matias Soto at No. 2 doubles, and a 6-4 victory from Pranav Kumar/Noah Schachter against Spencer Furman/Nick Stachowiak in the third spot.
As singles got underway, the Bears and Aggies split each of the first six sets. Simultaneously, A&M’s No. 33 Juan Carlos Aguilar and Bjorn Thomson won matches on courts two and six over No. 46 Adrian Boitan, 6-2, 6-3, and Spencer Furman 6-1, 7-6(4), to give the Aggies a 3-0 match lead.
However, the Bears showed signs of life by claiming the next two points with wins by No. 103 Broom on court five, 7-6(0), 7-6(5) over Rollins and No. 74 Stachowiak on court four, 7-5, 7-6(1) against Raphael Perot.
As each of the two remaining matches entered third sets, it was the fourth-ranked Vacherot who clinched it for Texas A&M at No. 1 singles, outlasting No. 56 Soto 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. No. 43 Lah finished play on court three with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over No. 116 Schachter to move the final tally to 4-3.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor’s 16-3 start to the season is its best since 2007, when the program began the year 18-2.
• BU dropped to 6-3 this season against ranked opponents.
• The Bears’ five-match win streak was snapped.
• Baylor is now 14-5 in the doubles point this season.
• The Bears are 3-2 in matches when losing the doubles point this year.
• BU is now a combined 78-14 in singles play and 37-15 in doubles action during the dual season.
• No. 103 Charlie Broom stayed hot with his team-leading 12th singles win of the spring.
STAT OF THE MATCH
12 – Charlie Broom tallied his 12th singles win of the dual season.
TOP QUOTES
Interim head coach Michael Woodson
Thoughts on today’s match…
“I think it was a really good test for us. All credit goes to Texas A&M, they really earned it today. I thought they played well, brought great energy and really pushed us. That being said, we had lots of opportunities and it just didn’t go our way today. But, I’m proud of the way we hung in there and gave ourselves a chance at the end.”
WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears (16-3) welcome No. 16 Arizona to Waco for a 6 p.m. match on Wednesday, March 17, at the Hurd Tennis Center.