Aidan O’Connor | Sports Writer
Baylor secured back-to-back wins defeated New Mexico, 6-1, and Rice, 6-1, in a day-night doubleheader at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center on Sunday.
The Bears (5-3) opened day against New Mexico (1-2). In head coach Michael Woodson’s eyes, the day couldn’t have started off worse.
“It was one of the worst doubles points we’ve played in years, probably since we lost the doubles point to Idaho State in 2022,” Woodson said.
The rocky start saw seniors Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Marko Miladinovic drop the first doubles match on Court One, 6-2. Junior Luc Koenig and freshman Luis Jose Nakamine dropped their match, 6-4, soon after to give the Lobos the doubles point. Graduate student Alexandru Chirita and junior Zsombor Velcz’s match was unfinished with a tied score of 5-5.
After falling in doubles, Woodson gathered his team and encouraged them to turn the corner in singles play. This speech by Woodson sparked a change as the Bears won the first set on each court.
“We started doubting our abilities and not communicating together,” Woodson said. “We didn’t really get up for the doubles point until we were three match points down on three doubles [courts]… To their credit, they responded. They were very energetic. The guys off the court did a great job from the first point of singles, and really all the way through the rest of the day, it was quite good.”
Chirita won the first point for the Bears with a score of 6-2, 6-2, on Court Five. Moments later, Miladinovic finished his match after a dominant second set, ultimately winning 7-5, 6-0, on Court Six. The success continued for the green and gold on Court Three as Koenig would take down his opponent 6-4, 6-4. Sophomore Devin Badenhorst, with the fourth point within arm’s reach, served up an ace to win his match 6-4, 6-2, securing the win for Baylor.
The Bears would play out the final matches, with Velcz winning 7-6(3), 6-1. Brostrom Poulsen landed the final point, 6-1, 1-6, 6-1. Baylor ended the first match with a 6-1 win over the Lobos.
After a brief reprieve from the action, the Bears faced Rice (3-3).
“We don’t need to practice more; we need to compete and do it well when things don’t feel good,” Woodson said. “I mean, the Rice match was way, way better. I thought we were intentional about really trying to swing first in doubles and punch first, and two 6-0s, I mean, that almost never happens.”
Against the Owls, doubles was a completely different story than it was against New Mexico. The Bears were in control from start to finish. Velcz and Chirita swept their competition 6-0 in under 20 minutes, capping off the match with a ferocious overhead winner that sailed into the stands. No. 3 Brostrom Poulsen and Miladinovic followed suit, winning 6-0, a complete reversal of their earlier match against the Lobos. The match between Badenhorst and Koenig remained unfinished at 3-4.
“We were intentional about bringing them [Brostrom Poulsen and Miladinovic] in and talking through, okay, what makes you guys such an elite team,” Woodson said. “They identified some things on their own that we hadn’t been talking about, like, hey, let’s try these things, this is what made us so good in the fall. We wanna get back to some of this in the spring, and it really comes down to their communication and trust in each other. We call it playing fifth position which is being a great teammate in doubles, they were intentional about that, and they came out and they did it.”
The momentum translated into singles, with Koenig scoring the first singles point for the Bears, 6-2, 6-3. On Court One, No. 25 Badenhorst secured the third point for Baylor, 6-2, 6-3. All eyes turned to Brostrom Poulsen and Miladinovic as they were each one game away from clinching the win for Baylor.
Miladniovic was the first to strike and would ensure the win for the green and gold, 6-3, 6-2. Brostrom Poulsen then finished his match, winning 6-4, 6-2, maintaining his undefeated record this spring in singles play. The last matches played out moments later, with Bowden losing a shortened matchup 4-6, 6-3, 6-10, and Chirita extending his singles winning streak to four with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win.
Baylor will return to action at 6 p.m. Friday, as it travels to Lincoln, Neb., to face off against the Cornhuskers in the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center.
