By Aidan O’Connor | Sports Writer
After sweeping Sunday’s doubleheader, the Baylor men’s tennis team looks to keep building momentum as it heads to the Midwest for its first road trip of the season. The Bears will face Nebraska at 6 p.m. Friday in Lincoln, Neb., and No. 4 Ohio State at noon Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.
“It’s never easy to travel that far, but we feel like we have a good understanding of what it takes to prepare to play somewhere like Nebraska, like Columbus,” head coach Michael Woodson said. “I think for us, coming off of a busy weekend, it’s about getting the bodies and the minds right.”
The Bears (5-3) begin their road trip against the Cornhuskers (4-2), holding a perfect 17-0 record against the out-of-state squad. The last matchup between the two teams resulted in a clean 7-0 sweep on Feb. 3, 2024, in Waco.
The story is quite the opposite against the Buckeyes (5-1). The green and gold have dropped eight straight versus No. 4 Ohio State, with the most recent loss being a 4-1 match in the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center on Feb. 28, 2024. The Bears managed to win the double point in the matchup, but former Baylor No. 1 Tadeas Paroulek left the match due to an illness before singles play commenced.
“I think for us, it’s just about going into every match, and we all know everybody can play,” Woodson said. “Parity has never been greater in college tennis these days, so everybody has great players and a strong team. They’re going to compete hard, so we have to be ready to go at all times.”
The No. 4 Buckeyes mark the fourth top-10 team Baylor has played this year. While the Bears are 0-3 in those matchups, they have improved each time—going from a 4-0 loss to No. 2 Wake Forest to being a serve away from beating No. 9 San Diego in a 4-3 loss. Heading into this weekend, Woodson and his team emphasize winning the doubles point, as Baylor has yet to win one against a ranked opponent.
“We’re showing some signs of figuring it out in doubles, but we haven’t really got over the hump yet,” Woodson said. “So I think for us, it’s going to be a matter of really committing to our games and executing. Ohio State always plays great doubles, but we’ve had success against them over the past couple of years in the doubles point. We want to be able to get that little advantage. It’s very hard to play there and hard to win, but if you can get up early, I think that gives you a shot.”
Ohio State is a lethal threat in every area of its game, boasting three ranked singles players and two ranked doubles teams. Baylor will be looking to ride off the success of senior Oskar Brostrom Poulsen, who is fresh off winning the Big 12 Athlete of the Week award. Brostrom Poulsen is undefeated in singles play (5-0) and sits as the No. 58 singles player in the nation.
“It’s been special to watch [Brostrom Poulsen],” Woodson said. “He’s dedicated a lot of time, energy, and effort into his development, and you never know when it’s going to pay off for you. You just keep working every single day, and fortunately for him, he’s had a great string of success.”
First serve against Nebraska is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday inside the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center in Lincoln. The Bears will follow up at noon Sunday against No. 4 Ohio State inside the Ty Tucker Tennis Center in Columbus.
