By Branson Hardcastle | Broadcast Reporter
The 18th-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team returned home Saturday to face Abilene Christian University in a doubleheader, sweeping the Wildcats 7-0 in both matches.
In the first match, the Bears started off hot, notching wins in all three doubles matches. Freshmen Roy Smith and Sven Lah found the first win in defeating Henry Adams and Brad Gleason 6-1. This win set the tone for the rest of the Bears as Baylor clinched the doubles point by winning 6-1 on courts one and two.
In the singles competition, sophomore Bjoern Petersen defeated ACU’s Jonathan Sheehy 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 2 spot. Petersen set the pace for Baylor in the singles competition and the rest of the Bears followed.
Baylor head coach Matt Knoll praised Petersen after his impressive win.
“In the singles, Pete clearly played his best tennis so it was good to see,” Knoll said. “And I think just getting a chance to play was nice.”
Sophomore Constantin Frantzen won his match at the No. 5 spot 6-3, 6-0 to give the Bears a 3-0 lead early in the match. Junior Jimmy Bendeck delivered the match clinching point by defeating Paul Domanski 6-0, 6-3.
Both teams decided to play the match out by giving both teams’ players a chance to get more experience under their belt. Baylor’s Roy Smith used this opportunity to beat Henry Adams 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot. Smith’s win was followed closely by doubles partner Sven Lah. Lah played on court 3 and defeated ACU’s Niko Moceanu 6-0, 6-3 to give Baylor a 6-0 lead.
No. 39 junior Johannes Schretter came away with the final victory in the first match playing on court 1. Schretter played Josh Sheehy, defeating him 6-4, 6-4 to win the final point for the Bears.
After a two-hour break, the Bears and Wildcats started their second match of the day. Baylor once again started out on fire, defeating ACU in all three doubles matches 6-1, 6-2, 7-5, giving the Bears a clean sweep in doubles play.
Freshman Akos Kotorman grabbed the first singles point of the match playing at the No. 6 spot. Kotorman defeated Paul Domanski 6-0, 6-0 to give Baylor a 2-0 lead. Quickly after, Bendeck took the win on court 5, dominating Hunter Holman 6-1, 6-0.
With the Bears up 3-0, Schretter clinched the match beating Jonathan Sheehy 6-2, 6-0. Frantzen finished next as he took down Henry Adams 6-1, 6-0 putting Baylor up 5-0. Freshman Matias Soto finished quickly after Frantzen, defeating Niko Moceanu 6-3, 6-0.
No. 74 Petersen scored the last point of the day prevailing over ACU’s Josh Sheehy 6-4, 6-3 on court 1.
Baylor is on a three-match winning streak after losing back to back matches at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. They defeated Washington on Feb. 18th 4-1 to start the streak.
Knoll said these wins are important for this young team as they needed some confidence going into their next matches.
“I think we had a few guys that came out of the indoor not playing as well as they would like, and I think it was great for them to get out and build some confidence and have some good success,” Knoll said.
The Bears will stay at home for their next match as they welcome Memphis to Waco at 3 p.m. Friday. Baylor will look to stretch its winning streak to four matches against the 5-3 Tigers.
