By Kasey McMillian
Reporter
The Baylor men’s tennis team was defeated by Florida on Sunday in Waco. The Bears drop to 1-1 on the season and Florida moved to 1-0.
In doubles, Nassim Slilam and Billy Federhofer, ranked No. 4 for Florida, defeated Baylor freshman Marko Krickovic and sophomore Robert Verzaal 8-5.
Florida’s Spencer Newman and Frank Carleton defeated junior Roberto Maytin and freshman Diego Galeano 8-6.
Also, Andrew Butz and Bob van Overbeek, ranked No. 25, defeated Baylor’s senior Kike Grangeiro and freshman Mate Zsiga, ranked No. 3 for Baylor, 8-5.
“We really don’t work on doubles that much and I wasn’t surprised that we didn’t play that well in doubles,” head coach Matt Knoll said in a press release. “We have several new teams, [and] I feel like that is something that’s going to evolve over the course of the year.”
Galeano, from Paraguay, played his first singles match since his enrollment to Baylor in January. Galeano has been struggling with a knee injury but was finally healthy enough to get some playing time on the court. He competed against Florida’s Slilam, losing 6-3 in the first set and 7-5 in the second set.
In singles, Carleton defeated Baylor’s Maytin 6-3, 6-4. Marko Krickovic from Baylor was defeated by Diep from Florida 7-5, 7-5.
Florida’s Newman defeated Baylor’s freshman Lars Behlen, ranked No. 52, 6-1, 6-7, and Florida’s Federhofer defeated Kike Grangeiro 6-1, 6-1.
On a personal best, Zsiga, ranked No. 20 and No. 1 for Baylor in singles, had the one point of the day for the Bears in the 6-1 loss. He defeated Bob van Overbeek, marking a singles best for Zsiga of 15-3.
“The singles were pretty disappointing,” Knoll said. “We didn’t do a very good job of managing the wind today. You’re just not going to play very good tennis on a day like today, so your objectives have to change.”
This weekend Baylor will host Florida State, New Mexico State, and Rice in the 2012 ITA National Indoors Qualifier.
The Bears and New Mexico State will play on Saturday at 3p.m. as well as Florida State and Rice at the Hurd Tennis Center on campus.
The two winners of those matches will advance to Sunday playing at 3 p.m. competing for a chance to participate in the Indoor Championship.
The overall winner will be rewarded a trip to Charlottesville, Va., entering the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
