Aggies end Baylor’s season in NCAA second round

Baylor freshman Matias Soto prepares to hit a forehand in Baylor's 4-0 loss to Texas on April 22. Courtesy of Baylor Athletics

By Nathan Keil | Sports Editor

Baylor men’s tennis saw its season come to an end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday afternoon in College Station.

The Bears fell behind early and were never able to recover, falling 4-1 to the fifth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies.

Texas A&M claimed the doubles point to open the match, taking victories on courts one and two.

Baylor duo junior Johannes Schretter and freshman Akos Kotorman fell to Texas A&M duo of freshman Juan Carlos Aguilar and senior Jordi Arconada 6-3 on court one.

The freshmen duo of Sven Lah and Roy Smith fell to senior duo, AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech 6-4 on court two, as the Aggies went ahead 1-0.

On court three, redshirt junior Will Little and sophomore Constantin Frantzen were tied 5-5 when Lah and Smith fell on court two.

Texas A&M kept the pressure on Baylor as the two old Big 12 rivals headed to singles competition.

The Aggies grabbed a 2-0 lead as sophomore Valentin Vacherot easily disbanded Little 6-0, 6-3 on court four.

Then on court two, Texas A&M went up 3-0 as Rinderknech took down freshman Matias Soto 6-3, 6-2.

Baylor did get on the board taking a victory on court five. Smith defeated Aguilar 6-3, 6-4 to cut the deficit to 3-1.

On court one, Schretter and freshman Patrick Kypson were heading to a third set when Texas A&M got the decisive point. Schretter took the opener 7-5 and Kypson responded with a 6-2 second set win.

On court six, Frantzen was down to Catanzariti 7-6, but was serving up 30-15 and tied 4-4 in the second set.

But neither match was finished as Arconada finished off Lah 7-6, 6-4 on court three to earn a spot in the Sweet Sixteen and send Baylor home for the season.

Baylor finishes the season 21-10.