By AnnaGrace Hale | Sports Writer
This weekend No. 4 Baylor men’s tennis started Big 12 play against two top ranked opponents, No. 11 University of Texas and No. 3 Texas Christian University. The Bears swept the Longhorns 6-0 in Austin on Friday and on Sunday fell in a nail biting match to the Horned Frogs 3-4 in Waco.
Baylor (19-3, 1-1 Big 12) began the match hot against Texas (13-8, 1-1 Big 12) as they clinched the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. Doubles pairing sophomore Tadeas Paroulek and junior Adrian Boitan found a 6-3 victory and duo junior Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and senior Matias Soto did the same defeating Texas’ No. 58 Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab, 6-4.
In singles play the Bears kept their momentum with wins on all courts. First to finish, junior Finn Bass won in two sets 6-4, 6-2. Next on court two No. 50 Soto upset Longhorn’s No. 19 Pierre-Yes Bailly, 6-1, 6-3. No. 15 Boitan secured the victory for the green and gold with the fourth point 6-1, 6-4 on the top court.
To play out the game, Paroulek won 6-3, 6-3 and in a three set game, and Grassi Mazzuchi was victorious 4-6, 6-4, 10-4.
“Teams like Texas are chomping at the bit to get some revenge, so we expected their best tennis,” head coach Michael Woodson said. “They came out firing and in our face, and I thought we handled it very well. We were able to get on them early in singles after sneaking out a good doubles point, and we were able to stretch some leads…There’s room for improvement and the guys know that, but we feel good about this and are excited to come home for what will be an absolute war on Sunday.”
Although Texas failed to avenge their previous loss against the Bears, the Horned Frogs (19-3, 2-0 Big 12) were determined to get revenge and succeeded. The last time the two teams met was nine days ago, when the Bears snatched a victory 5-2 in Fort Worth.
This time, TCU met Baylor at the Hurd Tennis Center, the first time the Bears had played in front of a home crowd since Feb. 12.
TCU put a point on the board first as they claimed the doubles point. Frogs Juan Carlos Aguilar and Pedro Vives defeated Boitan and Paroulek 6-3 on court three. The Bears responded with a win on court two from Grassi Mazzuchi and Soto against TCU’s No. 3 Sander Jong and Lui Maxted, 6-1. On court one No. 30 Lah and Bass fell by a slim margin, 7-5.
Knowing they needed to perform well in singles, the Bears put up a tough fight, but it was not enough. TCU took the first point as Bass fell on court four, 7-6(5), 6-3. Court five was a battle between former Frog Paroulek and Tomas Jirousek, with Paroulek winning in two sets, 6-4, 6-4. After Grassi Mazzuchi took a victory on court six the Frogs and Bears were tied at two all.
Next, No. 15 Boitan claimed a victory on the top court 7-6(2), 6-2. With the win not only does Boitan maintain a perfect record of 15-0 this spring, but he is also now 7-1 over nationally ranked opponents. TCU was quick to respond as Soto dropped his match 7-6(5), 6-4 to No. 18 Juan Carlos Aguilar. No. 55 Sander Jong slammed the door in the Bear’s face, securing the match with TCU’s fourth and final point against Lah 7-5, 4-6, 6-0.
The Bears look to redeem themselves with a win against Oklahoma State University at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center.
