By Will Potter
Reporter
The year was different but the results were the same, as the ninth-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team handily defeated the No. 52 TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday.
Baylor won nearly every match at the Baylor Tennis Center, except for one which was lost when the victory had already been decided. The Bears cruised to a 6-1 dual match victory which was the 11th victory in a row over the Horned Frogs.
The win was big for the Baylor men because it marked the first dual match victory over a ranked opponent this season just days after suffering a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to UCLA at home.
While the athletes were not available for comment after the win, coach Matt Knoll echoed his team’s sentiment after getting back in the win column.
“I wanted the guys to come out and be more disciplined and compete more consistently, and I thought we did that,” head coach Matt Knoll said. “The thing today was that I felt our poise was excellent. I didn’t see our guys getting off track, and that is what we wanted.”
Baylor gained an early edge on TCU by sweeping the doubles matches and earning a 1-0 edge heading into singles play.
At No. 3 doubles, the undefeated tandem of Julian Bley and Luis “Kike” Grangeiro got things rolling with an 8-5 win over Zach Nichols and Daniel Sanchez from TCU and improved their record together to 5-0.
Next on the court for the Bears at No. 1 doubles was Roberto Maytin and John Peers after an 8-4 drubbing of 55th nationally ranked duo of Emanuel Brighiu and Christopher Price. Maytin and Peers have only one loss on the year and have won their last three in a row improving the record on the year to 4-1.
At No. 2 doubles, the Baylor pair Jordan Rux and Sergio Ramirez needed a tiebreaker to defeat Soren Goritzka and Cameron Nash and pulled their match out 9-8 (3), to ice the doubles point and roll into singles with momentum.
“All of the doubles matches were very close,” Knoll said. “We didn’t really take control until late, but I thought we did a good job to sustain some momentum and stay focused to get through those matches.”
After the loss to UCLA the previous week, head coach Matt Knoll made some changes in the lineup and inserted freshman Dennis Lengsfeld into the No. 2 spot for singles play.
Lengsfeld did not disappoint as he dismantled Goritzka dropping only two games in the first set and shutting him out in the second set 6-2, 6-0.
“Dennis only lost two games at No. 2,” Knoll said. “That is hard to beat. He is one of our best players. He is very excited for the opportunity and today, of course, he came through for us.”
Baylor swept through all of the singles matches except for at the sixth spot where Julian Bley suffered a third set defeat only after the match was secured by the Bears.
Next up for the Bears will be a trip to Dallas to face the SMU Mustangs Sunday at noon. Baylor has won 14 straight versus SMU and will look to continue that streak this weekend.
