Story by by Nathan Keil | Sports Editor, Video by Elisabeth Tharp | Broadcast Reporter
Baylor men’s tennis picked up its first conference win of the season Saturday night at the Hurd Tennis Center, shutting out the visiting Red Raiders 4-0.
Baylor head coach Matt Knoll said he just wanted to see his team improve against the Red Raiders—and that’s exactly what he saw.
“It’s always about getting better. We really hadn’t played that well. We didn’t think we did a lot of things well (last weekend). We really wanted to focus on improving (tonight), and I think we did that,” Knoll said. “This league is tough, and so every match is going to be really difficult. I thought our guys took a big step forward today.”
The Bears got off to a fast start as juniors Johannes Schretter and Will Little took a 6-1 win on court one and the duo sophomore Constantin Frantzen and freshman Akos Kotorman took a 6-2 win on two to take the doubles point and grab a 1-0 lead.
Baylor refused to take its foot off the pedal in singles and it started with freshman Matias Soto on court three. Soto won fairly handily 6-3, 6-2 as the Bears grabbed a 2-0 lead.
Next, it was another freshman, Sven Lah who took a 6-4, 6-3 win on court five, putting Baylor up 3-0.
Lah said the team came out energized on every court and that focus helped them play well from start to finish.
“I think we came out hot on all six courts and showed that it’s not a joke and we’re really into it and that two bad matches over the weekend didn’t really destroy us,” Lah said. “I think it was a great win and we’re looking for to the next one.”
The Bears closed it out on the racquet of Schretter as he knocked Texas Tech junior Tommy Mylnikov 7-5, 6-2 to close out the match.
With the win, Baylor improves to 14-0 at home this season and ends a five-match losing streak to Texas Tech.
Baylor (18-6, 1-2) heads to Fort Worth for a match with TCU at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
“We’re looking forward to that match, especially us young guys like me. I think we have to do a great job on the road. We’ve done a good job so far; our level on the road is improving. I think from match to match, it’s going to be better,” Lah said.
