By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
No. 9 Baylor men’s tennis came into Thursday night as the favorites against Utah, which sits dead last in the Big 12. Instead, the Bears faced a slow start to singles, trailing in four first sets.
Senior Zsombor Velcz found himself trailing 3-0 while senior Luc Koenig fell behind 5-2.
“They thought it was going to come easily, and it doesn’t,” head coach Michael Woodson said. “These are lessons that they have to learn. Unfortunately, we put ourselves in a little bit of a hole there when we didn’t necessarily need to.”
It was Velcz and Koenig that turned the tables for Baylor. Velcz came back to tie the first set 4-4. He soon after secured a break to take a 6-5 lead, eventually winning his first set 7-5. Koenig strung together five straight wins on Court 4 to emerge on top 7-5.
“It wasn’t looking good, so we needed probably both of those guys to come through,” Woodson said. “It was good for both of them to face a little bit of adversity and come out on top.”
With momentum going the Bears’ way, Baylor (17-7, 4-1 Big 12) took care of business to beat Utah (5-14, 1-5 Big 12) 4–1.
The Bears took the doubles point without much trouble as junior Devin Badenhorst and freshman Blake Anderson won 6-4 on Court 3 while junior Connor Van Schalkwyk and Velcz secured the point with a 6-3 victory.
The transition from doubles to singles proved not to be as seamless as Baylor hoped. Van Schalkwyk could not find his rhythm, losing 6-2, 6-2 as the first singles match to finish.
Junior Louis Bowden followed by cruising to a 6-1, 6-1 victory on Court 5 to give the Bears a 2-1 lead. Koenig secured Baylor’s third point after his first-set comeback, winning 7-5, 6-3.
Velcz secured the Bears’ fifth consecutive victory with a 7-5, 6-3 win.
“They know what it looks like to fight and respond when your back’s against the wall,” Woodson said. “Unfortunately, we had to wait until our back was against the wall in a few situations … but obviously, always good to get a Big 12 win.”
Badenhorst, coming off back-to-back Big 12 Player of the Week honors, did not finish on Court 1 after splitting the first two sets. Freshman Calvin Baierl forced a tiebreaker in his second set after dropping the first but did not complete his match.
Baylor returns to action Saturday for a doubleheader at the Hurd Tennis Center. The Bears face Midwestern State at 10:30 a.m. and BYU at 6 p.m.
