By Aidan O’Connor | Sports Writer
Friday night, Baylor men’s tennis traveled to Lincoln, Neb., and won the first matchup of its Midwest road trip, defeating Nebraska 4-2 inside the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center.
“We got the job done in doubles,” head coach Michael Woodson said. “I thought one team punched first on every court. It wasn’t us on Court One, but it was us on Courts Two and Three. We did a really nice job of serving out the matches from there. We got what proved to be the deciding point I felt like.”
Things started rocky in doubles as the seniors Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Marko Miladinovic fell 6-2 on Court One. The green and gold struck back soon after as graduate student Alexandru Chirita and junior Zsombor Velcz secured their match 6-3. With both Nebraska (4-3) and Baylor (6-3) taking one doubles match, it came down to the South African duo of sophomore Devin Badenhorst and junior Luc Koenig. The pair delivered a 6-3 win on Court Two and gave Baylor the ever-important doubles point.
“Going into singles, it felt like we had a lot of momentum early on in a bunch of courts,” Woodson said. “Credit to Nebraska; they’re a well-coached and veteran team. They didn’t go away on maybe everywhere but Court Six. They made it really hard for us up and down the lineup. Maybe it wasn’t our best tennis in a few spots, but we had a really good opportunity to serve out three straight-set matches. We weren’t able to do that on Court Three, but we were able to close it out on Five and Six.”
In singles, the Bears started strong, with Miladinovic taking the first singles point on Court Six for the second time this season with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 victory, capped off with an ace. The green and gold slowed down shortly after as Velcz lost on Court Four 7-5, 6-1. Chirita would then turn the tides in Baylor’s favor again as he won his match 6-3, 6-4 on Court Five, extending his single’s winning streak to five.
The Cornhuskers proceeded to snatch Court One as Badenhorst fell 6-2, 7-6(3) in a match that saw a very contested second set. With the match moving toward a conclusion with the Bears on top 3-2, it was up to Brostrom Poulsen, who delivered. Up 5-1, Brostrom Poulsen dominated the final game as he secured the fourth point for Baylor with a walk-off ace. He took home the victory 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1.
“Oskar did a fantastic job of acting himself early and really put a ton of pressure on his opponent,” Woodson said. “He was able to get a couple of breaks and serve incredibly well to close it out.”
Earlier in the week, Woodson elaborated on how special it is for him to see the success Brostrom Poulsen has been having. Against the Cornhuskers, Brostrom Poulsen was able to continue his winning ways as he now sits undefeated (6-0) in singles this spring. Baylor is hoping for and counting on his success to continue as they go into their match against No. 4 Ohio State.
The Bears will continue their road trip as they travel to Columbus to play the Buckeyes (6-1) at noon Sunday inside the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.
