By Ben Everett | Sports Writer
The No. 4-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team defeated No. 28 Memphis and Prairie View A&M Sunday at the Hurd Tennis Center to remain undefeated at home on the season.
The Bears (18-3) struggled to compete in doubles play against the Tigers in the first match but bounced back behind strong play from freshman Constantin Frantzen and senior Max Tchoutakian who led the entire way in their doubles match to win 6-4.
Baylor clinched the doubles point when sophomores Johannes Shcretter and Jimmy Bendeck came from behind to defeat Memphis’ Felix Rauch and Ryan Peniston 6-4 as the Bears went up 1-0.
In singles play, the Bears started hot with wins from Schretter and senior Juan Benitez to take a 3-0 lead in the match. Frantzen then clinched the match with a win over Rauch.
Head coach Matt Knoll says despite the tough start, his team played well, and that’s a sign of maturity.
“We managed the match really well,” Knoll said. “We got off to a slow start in doubles, but once we started playing the system a little bit we did well. In singles, everybody came out ready to go. We managed the match. Memphis is a really good team. That’s a tough program, so for all of our guys to come through like they did was a great sign. It shows we’re maturing and improving, and that’s what we want to be doing.”
Sophomore Will Little said any win over a highly ranked team is important to the team.
“I thought it was great,” Little said. “We punched those guys right in the mouth, a top-30 team-to beat them 4-0 was really good. Especially after a week off since our last match. Everybody was really pumped up and nobody had a bad performance today, so I thought that was really good.”
In the second match of the day, the Bears blew past Prairie View A&M with a 7-0 win. Seniors Tyler Stayer and Sam May saw playing time for Baylor and clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win.
All six Baylor players won their singles matches with Little clinching the match with a 6-1, 6-1 win.
The Bears are now 6-0 all time against Memphis and 10-0 all time against Prairie View A&M.
Baylor takes on Tulsa at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Tulsa, Okla. in their last non-conference match of the season.
