WACO, Texas – No. 5 Baylor men's tennis (2-0) helped head coach Brian Boland reach a career milestone as the Bears swept the season-opening doubleheader against Boise State and UT Arlington on Saturday at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
 
Boland is now 601-96 in 23 years as a head coach, becoming the third active Baylor coach (Glenn Moore, Kim Mulkey) to reach the milestone.
 
With its win over Boise State, the Bears are 24-1 in home openers dating back to 1996 and are 33-1 in home matches since 2017.
 
MATCH ONE: Baylor 7, Boise State 0
The Bears opened the match in dominant fashion and jumped out to quick leads on all doubles courts. Adrian Boitan and Finn Bass opened it up with a quick 6-0 win over Wyatt Demulling and Kyrall Kryvchun at the No. 3 spot.
 
Then, 20^th-ranked Constantin Frantzen and Sven Lah clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 victory over Simon Arca-Costas and Blake Bayldon on court one. 25^th-ranked Ryan Dickerson and Matias Soto closed it out with a 6-3 win over Michael Bott and Mark Papadopoulos at the No. 2 spot.
 
In singles action, Bass claimed his first collegiate victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Mark Papadopoulos at the No. 5 spot. 59^th-ranked Soto then took a 6-3, 6-1 win against Kyryll Kryvchun on court one, and Rahul Dhokia clinched the match with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Michael Bott on court six.
 
70^th-ranked Boitan followed shortly after with a 6-1, 7-5 win against Blake Bayldon at the No. 2 spot. No. 111 Dickerson collected a 6-3, 6-3 win over Simon Arca-Costas at the No. 4 spot, and 19^th-ranked Lah closed out the sweep with a 3-6, 6-0, 7-5 victory against Wyatt DeMulling on court three.
 
MATCH TWO: Baylor 6, UT Arlington 1
The Bears jumped out to the early lead when 20^th-ranked Lah and Frantzen secured a 6-1 win on court one. 25^th-ranked Dickerson and Soto clinched the opening point with a 6-2 victory over Eduard Simo and Solano Caffarena.
 
In singles action, the Bears lost its lone point of the day when No. 70 Boitan retired down 6-2, 2-0 to Angel Diaz at the No. 2 spot. 19^th-ranked Lah rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Miguel Cabrera on court three, followed by No. 59 Soto's 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Alejandro Hayen at the top of the lineup.
 
No. 111 Dickerson clinched the match with a 6-0, 6-3 win against Eduard Simo on court four. Playing the other matches out, Dhokia collected his second win of the day with a 6-3, 6-4 showing against Solano Caffarena on court six.
 
After dropping the first set, Bass closed out the day with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Alan Sau Franco at the No. 5 spot.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor is now 24-1 in home openers since 1996.
• Brian Boland earned his 600^th career win in the season opener, improving to 601-96 in his 23^rd year as a head coach.
• Baylor has won 33 of its last 34 home matches dating back to 2017.
• Baylor is 2-0 in the doubles points and 2-0 when winning the doubles point this season.
• Five players (Bass, Dhokia, Dickerson, Lah and Soto) recorded two singles wins on Saturday.
• Baylor leads the all-time series against Boise State, 6-0, and UT Arlington, 16-5.
 
STAT OF THE MATCH
601 – the number of career wins for Brian Boland after today's victories.
 
TOP QUOTE
Head coach Brian Boland
On the doubleheader…
"First, I'd like to thank the people that came out this afternoon. That was an awesome crowd. It makes a big difference when you play at home and you have that kind of energy in the building. It says a lot about the student body and community getting behind the program. I know the guys really enjoyed the atmosphere. I thought we came with a lot of energy. We played well, top to bottom, with it being our first match. I've always felt the first couple matches of the year are challenging for different reasons. We have some guys that are a little bit vulnerable in terms of some physical things that we have it work through. Today, we got through it against two excellent teams, so I was pleased with the effort, the energy and the overall execution of the team on the court, but we have a long way to go. I think the most important thing that we continue to work on is becoming physically healthy day in and day out. I think those will be ongoing challenges, but believe in our process and our medical team and the things that are necessary to get us where we need to be down the road."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears (2-0) takes a day off of competition before hosting Nebraska Monday at 1:30 p.m. at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.