By Bennett Parker | Sports Writer
Baylor men’s tennis had a shot at glory last season. A strong fall flooded into a dominant spring. The Bears finished the season 25-10, making a run in the NCAA Tournament before No. 1 Texas halted their momentum in the quarterfinals.
A new season is underway; there are high hopes around Baylor. The fall slate holds 10 tournaments before the semester concludes with the NCAA Individual Championships in November.
The Bears’ first performance concluded last week in the ITA All-American Championships, hosted in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Senior Connor Van Schalkwyk punched an early ticket to the NCAA Individual Championships with a deep run in the consolation bracket.
“Van Schalkwyk has obviously just come off a great week at All-Americans,” Woodson said. “[He] had five exceptional wins. I think he’s improving as well as doing a lot of the right things on and off the court. And so it’s fun to see his hard work pay off.”
Van Schalkwyk also put up a solid doubles performance in the tournament, being ranked as the No. 14 team with senior Erik Schiessl.
Schiessl is a newcomer to the Baylor program but is already finding his groove, going 1-1 in doubles and 3-2 in singles over his first week of competition.
“Erik Schiessl, who transferred to us from Florida State, has come in and really gelled very well with the other guys,” Woodson said. “Even though he’s new to Baylor, he’s been in college for a few years, so he’s bringing a lot of great experience from where he was before and leading by example on the court.”
Schiessl isn’t the only new face for Baylor in 2026. Four freshmen join the Bears roster. Brostrøm Poulsen, Radek Chodora, Connor Doig and Gordon Gallagher are all gelling well and contributing to the culture of the team.
The new additions have already assimilated into Baylor’s culture, even after only the fall tournament.
“The culture’s strong,” Woodson said. “I think it’s a hardworking group. They love to have fun together, and they really enjoy being with each other throughout the day. They certainly enjoy the hard work more when they’re around each other. But they also know when to turn it off and when to turn it on.”
Culture is crucial, especially when spring rolls around, but fall tournaments demand “an individual-focused mentality” in order to achieve the team’s goals. The Bears’ next competition is just an hour and a half up the interstate in Fort Worth for ITA Texas Regionals. The bracket will have some of the fiercest competition Woodson’s squad will face all year.
“I think everybody would agree; we have the toughest regional in the country,” Woodson said. “There are 125 ranked singles players, and 25 of them are from Texas … It’s going to be a really tough tournament. There’s only two spots on the line for NCAAs in that event, out of 125 players that will play.”
ITA Texas Regionals will be hosted in Fort Worth from Oct. 8 to Oct. 12.
