By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            For the second time in nine days, the 12^th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team (7-1) will face No. 6 Wake Forest (7-1). 
            After Baylor pulled out a pair of three-setters in a 5-2 win on Feb. 6 at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center, there will be more on the line when the eighth-seeded Bears face the ninth-seeded Demon Deacons at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis. 
            "I think it actually helps," said fifth-year senior Ryan Dickerson, who clinched last Thursday's match by rallying from a set down to defeat Henri Squire, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3. "It's probably pretty beneficial for both teams in a way because you at least you know what you're getting into and you know the personnel and stuff like that. It should be an even better matchup because we both know each other a little better now."
            Getting healthier by the day, Baylor added first-semester freshman Alex Garcia for the first Wake match and now brings back sophomore Adrian Boitan, who has been sidelined since the opening weekend. Lineups are tentative, but Boitan is scheduled to play No. 3 singles. 
            "I think in some ways this has been a blessing for him," second-year head coach Brian Boland said. "One thing about Adrian is he needs to pace himself a little bit at times. This has kind of shut him down in a way that I thought was necessary early on. And I think it will become a blessing for him and us, long term."
            Even without him, Baylor was able to bounce back from a frustrating 4-3 road loss at Arkansas to beat the sixth-ranked Demon Deacons in a close match that came down to the last few courts. 
            Boland said the team came away from the loss at Arkansas in a "good amount of pain, in a sense that the guys really wanted to get back on the court and get to work and do some of the stuff that was necessary to get ready for Wake."
            Similarly, Wake used the loss at Baylor as a wake-up call, bouncing back with wins over Virginia (5-2) and Davidson (7-0) just three days later. 
            "it was nice to bounce back after our not-so-great performance against Baylor," Wake coach Tony Bresky said. "I think it woke the guys up a little bit. It gave our guys that extra push and determination, and we are going to take that same mindset into the ITA Indoor Championship."
            Baylor qualified for the ITA Championship for the seventh-consecutive year and 17^th time overall with wins over Gonzaga and Louisville in last month's ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Bears were 1-2 last year, upsetting third-ranked Mississippi State, and are 24-25 overall. 
            "We are going to put the best guys on the court as long as we are not compromising the long-term goals of what we have in late April and May," Boland said. "That being said, it's a national championship. No, it's not the ultimate goal, playing the NCAA outdoors. But, this kind of gives us a measurement of where we are at, stacked up against some of the best in the country. . . . Wake is a national championship-level team."
            With a deep roster, Baylor has been able to survive injuries that have kept Garcia, Boitan and No. 1-ranked recruit Jenson Brooksby off the court at different times. This is the closest Boland has come to being able to roll out his best lineup. 
            "Knowing the next guy behind you is an unbelievable player, you feel like, 'Man, I've got to do my job,''' Dickerson said. "When you have guys go down, you need guys to step up and fill those spots and keep winning. We still didn't have our full lineup last week and we took down Wake, a top-6 team in the country. We need all the guys, and we want the best players out there, to do what we want to do this year."
            Assured of at least three matches this weekend, Baylor would face either top-seeded Ohio State or the host Wisconsin team if it wins and advances to Saturday's quarterfinals. 


WACO, Texas – The 12^th-ranked and No. 8 seed Baylor men's tennis team will compete for the seventh-straight season in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships Friday through Monday at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis.

BU (7-1) will face sixth-ranked and No. 9 seed Wake Forest Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT in the opening round of action.

The Bears will take part in the event for the 17^th time overall. BU's best finish at the championships came in 2005 when the Bears knocked off four ranked teams to win the indoor championship title. BU's all-time record at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships is 24-25.

Last season, a 10th-seeded Baylor squad went 1-2 at the event hosted in Chicago, dropping its first match against eighth-ranked North Carolina but bouncing back with an upset win over third-ranked Mississippi State the following day. The team dropped its final contest of the event to No. 12 Columbia.

Baylor heads to Madison with four ranked singles players, including No. 25 Sven Lah, who boasts an 8-0 mark in spring action. No. 67 Matias Soto is 5-1, while No. 82 Constantin Frantzen is 3-0. No. 102 Adrian Boitan is 1-1 but has missed the last six matches.

BU's doubles teams will put their combined 18-1 record on the line this weekend, led by No. 17 Lah and Frantzen's 8-0 mark at the top of the lineup. Soto and senior Ryan Dickerson are 5-0 at the No. 2 spot, and sophomore Finn Bass and freshman Sebastian Nothhaft are 4-1 at the No. 3 position.

BU's matchup with the Demon Deacons will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two teams and the second of the season. Baylor took a 2-1 series lead after posting a 5-2 win over Wake Forest on Feb. 6 at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.

The Demon Deacons have three ranked singles players ranked, including No. 44 Bar Botzer, No. 84 Rrezart Cungu and No. 100 Siddhant Banthia.

The field of this year's ITA Indoor Championships consists of three teams from the Big 12 with Texas, Baylor and TCU claiming the fifth, eighth and 15^th seeds, respectively.

Baylor is guaranteed to play three matches in the event with a fourth contest coming on Monday for the title if BU wins the first three. If the Bears win Friday's match, they will face the winner of No. 1 seed Ohio State and 16^th-seeded and host Wisconsin in the quarterfinal round scheduled for Saturday.

The Bears advanced to this weekend's event by besting Gonzaga, 4-0, on Jan. 25 and then putting together a 4-1 victory over Louisville on Jan. 26 in the finals of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Waco.

Live streaming and live scoring will be available for matches all weekend at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Links can be found on the men's tennis schedule page at BaylorBears.com.

For the latest information on the Baylor men's tennis team and live updates from this weekend, follow the team on social media: @BaylorMTennis.