March 21, 2015 Complete Results
THE RUNDOWN
INDIAN WELLS, CALIF. - Coming back from a 3-2 deficit, the third-ranked Baylor men's tennis team secured a 4-3 triumph over No. 4 USC Saturday in the semifinal round of the BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge presented by Oracle at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Baylor (14-2) earned the victory and snapped USC's (13-3) three-match win streak by getting the doubles point and singles wins at the No. 1, 5, and 6 spots.
For a fifth-straight doubles point, Baylor's No. 3 tandem of Felipe Rios and Vince Schneider produced a victory. The pairing, which won its 11th-straight match, bested Thibault Forget and Nick Crystal, 6-3, at the No. 3 spot.
The Trojans roared back with a win at No. 1 doubles. The 40th-ranked duo of Mate Zsiga and Tony Lupieri were unable to pull off the upset over No. 3 Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz, 6-4.
At that point, the 77th-ranked pairing of Julian Lenz and Diego Galeano tied up its match with No. 50 Eric Johnson and Max de Vroome, on court two at 5-5. The match would head to a tiebreaker, which the Baylor duo claimed 7-1 to clinch the match and the doubles point for the Bears.
BU quickly pushed its lead to 2-0 in singles play with Rios tallying his 10th-straight victory by upsetting No. 51 Crystal, 6-2, 6-3, at the bottom of the lineup.
However, the Trojans would win the next three matches to claim the 3-2 advantage.
First, the 29th-ranked Lupieri dropped a 6-4, 6-3 decision to No. 20 Quiroz, at the No. 2 spot. A short time later, No. 36 Max Tchoutakian was upset by Eric Johnson,6-3, 7-5 on court two to square the match at two points apiece.
USC grabbed its only lead of the match as the 35th-ranked Jonny Wang beat Schneider, 6-2, 7-5, at the No. 4 position.
The Bears answered right back with Zsiga polishing off the 50th-ranked de Vroome, 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 5 position.
That victory tied the match at 3-3 and shifted focus to the showdown on court one between the fourth-ranked Lenz and No. 8 Hanfmann. The BU junior had won the opening set 6-2 and was leading 6-5 when Zsiga tied the match. Lenz went on to break Hanfmann to clinch the match 6-2, 7-5 and give the Bears the team victory.
NOTABLES
? Baylor is now 5-7 all-time against USC.
? The Bears snapped a five-match losing streak to USC and beat the Trojans for the first time since March 10, 2006.
? Baylor now has wins over seven top-13 ranked teams in No. 6 Duke, No. 3 Virginia, No. 12 UCLA, No. 11 Virginia, No. 13 TCU, No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 4 USC.
? The Bears are now 7-1 away from Waco this year and 4-1 in neutral site contests.
? Rios has won 10 straight matches and is 10-1 on the year.
? Baylor improved to 15-0 in doubles points in 2015.
? Schneider and Rios improved to 10-1 in doubles play.
? Tchoutakian (4) and Schneider (6) both had win streaks stopped.
TOP QUOTE #1
"It was a great match at No. 2 doubles. There were a lot of dramatic momentum swings. You looked up there for a while and it felt like we were going to win and then you looked up there a little while later and it felt like they were going to win. I thought both teams did a good job of competing hard. We fought off a match point to get to the tiebreaker and then did a great job in the tiebreaker." - head coach Matt Knoll on doubles
TOP QUOTE #2
"It is kind of funny that we had such a competitive match and all the matches only went two sets. They are super good, but Felipe (Rios) certainly helped us get momentum with what he did. It was really good tennis all over the place." - Knoll on the singles wins
TOP QUOTE #3
"It is great to be in the finals. We knew at this event we were going to have to play great to win matches. Now we have the No. 1 team in the country waiting for us in the finals. They beat us earlier this year and have a great program. It is going to be a super opportunity for us. We have to play these kind of matches to get better and it is going to help us. It is a great chance for our guys to be pushed." - Knoll on playing Oklahoma
WHAT'S NEXT
With its two straight victories in California, Baylor has earned a spot in the BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge final. The Bears will face a familiar foe in No. 1 ranked Oklahoma. The match will be played at 12 p.m. CT Sunday. Earlier in the year, the Sooners beat BU, 4-2, in the semifinal round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Oklahoma has beaten No. 29 Columbia, 4-2, and Purdue, 4-0, to reach the final. The Bears trail the all-time series, 20-21, to the Sooners.
For the latest news on the Baylor men's tennis team follow its official Twitter account: @BaylorMTennis.
