Feb. 14, 2010
|  |
| Singles | | Myneni
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| #1 | 6-2, 6-0 | Lukacs | | Doverspike | DNF
| #2 | DNF
| Rux | | Thompson | DNF | #3 | DNF | Bucko | | Botha |
| #4 | 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
| Mueller | | Yassine | DNF
| #5 | DNF
| Horny | | Davis |
| #6 | 6-0, 6-4
| Bley |
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| Doubles | | | Doverspike/Davis | 8-5 | #1 | | Maytin/Rux | | Chadwell/Thompson |
| #2 | 8-5 | Horny/Lukacs | | Botha/Yassine |
| #3 | 8-4
| Bley/Buc ko |
|
|
|
|
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- In its final match at the 2010 ITA National Team Indoor Championship, the fifth-ranked men's tennis team got it first win of the tournament by defeating 19th-ranked Alabama, 4-0, on Sunday at the Boar's Head Sports Club.
"We needed it desperately," head coach Matt Knoll said. "We needed a win bad. I am proud of the guys for bouncing back. I thought they showed a lot of character coming out and competing hard today and getting a 4-0 win against a good team."
In doubles, Baylor fell behind quickly as the No. 1 pairing of Jordan Rux and Roberto Maytin lost for a third straight day. The tandem is now 1-3 on the year and was beaten 8-5 by Ricky Doverspike and Micahel Davis. However, Baylor responded by winning the next two doubles matches to take the doubles point for the first time at the championship. First, Attila Bucko and Julian Bley beat Jarryd Botha and Houssam Yassine, 8-4 and then Denes Lukacs and Maros Horny took out Ian Chadwell and Michael Thompson, 8-5. Bley and Bucko moved their record to 3-1, while Lukacs and Horny improved to 5-2.
"We lost the first two doubles in a tiebreaker both days," Knoll said. "When you lose two tiebreakers like that, you just kind of feel things aren't going your way, so I think it was certainly nice to have something positive happen."
Baylor took the first two matches in singles rather easily to push 15th-seeded Alabama to the brink of defeat. At No. 1 singles Lukacs kept the Bears momentum rolling from doubles as he beat 62nd-ranked Saketh Myneni, 6-2, 6-0 to improve his record to 7-0 in dual match play. In his first singles match of the dual match season Bley, a sophomore, make quick work of Davis 6-0, 6-4 to give Baylor a 3-0 lead in the match. "We are lucky we have eight really good players," Knoll said of his changes in the singles lineup.
"We just felt like Julian was ready and we weren't particularly thrilled with what we had gotten out of a couple other guys, so it just made sense to give him an opportunity. I am proud of him. It is not easy to come out and play when you haven't played in a while, but Julian is real mature and he has absolutely practiced his tail off and I am not surprised he came through"
However, the Bears would find the fourth and deciding point hard to come by as the final four singles matches dragged on with three going into a third set. In the end Dominik Mueller was able to overcome an opening set 6-4 loss to take down Jarryd Botha by winning sets two and three 6-2, 6-3. Mueller is now 7-1 in dual match play.
"Denes did a great job of just doing what he needed to do by getting the W," Knoll said. "Dom got off to a little bit of a slow start like he did yesterday. He was playing a little flat, but made an adjustment and was able to win the match down the stretch."
With the 1-2 record in this year's Championship, the Bears record in ITA National Team Indoor competition now stands at 17-11 after nine years of play at the event.
Baylor improved to 6-2 on the year, while Alabama fell to 3-4. The Bears now hold a 5-0 record over the Tide in the all-time series.
"We learned we are going to have to be pretty sharp to compete with the teams at the top level in college tennis," Knoll said. "As funny as it sounds on the other hand we proved to ourselves in our own minds that we are competitive. We feel we could have done some good things here had we taken advantage of a few more opportunities and been a little sharper."
Baylor will return to action next Sunday, Feb. 21 in Waco when it takes on UT Arlington and Prairie View A&M in doubleheader action at the Baylor Tennis Center at 3 and 7 p.m.
