No. 1 MT Moves On After Downing No. 14 Ole Miss

Monday, May 17

Orlando, Fla.

12:00 p.m.

Baylor

Ole Miss

No. 1 MT Moves On After Downing No. 14 Ole Miss

5/17/2021 6:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Bears advance to NCAA Quarterfinals, will face TCU on Thursday

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            ORLANDO, Fla. – After barely breaking a sweat in 4-0 wins over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Oregon, the No. 1-ranked and second-seeded Baylor men's tennis team actually got pushed a little by 15^th-seeded Ole Miss in Monday's Round of 16 match.
            But, when push came to shove, the Bears (32-4) pushed back.
            With the remaining three matches going to third sets, Charlie Broom rallied from an 0-3 deficit to take down the Rebels' Simon Junk, 2-6, 6-2 6-3, at No. 5 singles to send Baylor to the NCAA quarterfinals with a 4-1 win.
            "It was important for us to step on their throats and kind of win this one, as a score line, convincingly," said Nick Stachowiak, who got an early point on the board with a 6-4, 6-0 win over John Hallquist Lithen at No. 4. "Even though a lot of matches went three sets and there were some close matches, it was good to get off the court 4-1 with a victory."
            On a day that saw fifth-seeded Virginia and No. 6 North Carolina upset and No. 3 Tennessee and fourth-seeded Texas hold on for 4-3 wins, Baylor's match looked more like a nice stroll in the park. But there were points in the match, head coach Michael Woodson said, when it looked like this one could come right down to the wire as well.
            "It felt like it deserved to come down to the end," Woodson said. "Credit Sven (Lah) and Adrian (Boitan) for digging in and churning. Charlie just raced away with the third set as soon as he got a little bit of momentum. And then, you just always feel like Spencer (Furman) is down there (at No. 6) and he'll be fine."
            Ole Miss got its only point when 16^th-ranked Finn Reynolds swept 11^th-ranked Matias Soto, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 2. "Matias was having a tough day out there," Woodson said. "His opponent was fantastic."
            Just before Broom clinched it, Furman grinded out a 6-4, 6-4 win over Lukas Engelhardt at No. 6 to give the Bears a 3-1 lead and put them on the brink of their second-straight and 14^th NCAA quarterfinal in program history.
            Boitan was a break up at 4-3 over Tim Sandkaulen at No. 1 and Lah was all squared at 2-2 with Nikola Slavic at No. 3 when the match was decided by Broom.
            "We said last night, how important it is in the early rounds to finish teams off when you have the chance," Broom said. "Certainly, in my match, it wasn't looking great for a while. . . . I just felt like if I kept applying pressure to him, eventually it would take its toll and things would go my way. And thankfully, it did."
            Woodson said Broom, who improved to 19-2 at No. 5, "has a game at No. 5 singles that most guys don't have."
            "With his serve being so strong, and just having so many different tools and ways to beat you," Woodson said, "if he finds his stuff for 15 or 20 minutes, his opponents are going to have no chance. . . . Even if he's down 4-1, 5-2, he's going to have an opportunity to break. And with his serve, he doesn't have to do a lot behind it if he just serves well. That last 20 minutes, he did a phenomenal job of competing hard and really taking it to the guy."
            That was Baylor's mindset right out of the box in doubles. Taking control with early breaks on all three courts, the Bears got the first point on the board with Stachowiak and Soto rolling over Junk and Brady Draheim, 6-1, at No. 2; and Broom pairing with Finn Bass to defeat Engelhardt and Jakob Cadonau, 6-3, at No. 3.
            Facing the top-ranked duo in the country, Baylor's ninth-ranked tandem of Lah and Constantin Frantzen were up 5-2 on Sandkaulen and Reynolds at No. 2.
            "Our guys did a phenomenal job of starting very quickly in doubles," Woodson said. "I thought the energy was good, they executed, they did exactly what we talked about, which is to kind of try to punch them in the mouth, really make guys earn points. Cross first, take some chances. And we really did that early."
            Ole Miss (13-11) came out with that same kind of energy at the start of singles, winning the first set on three courts and leading at different points at two other spots.
            "It was an interesting dynamic out there today," Woodson said. "The players off the court are very far away from the middle, and the scoreboards weren't really working. So, you couldn't really tell how it was going. It was kind of a flat environment, not something we're used to. And I felt like it really hurt us on several courts.
            "They started very quickly, really came after us, very aggressive styles of play on a lot of courts. Credit to our guys for finding ways to flip a lot of those matches, just to hang in there and turn them and take sets just by being a little bit more solid and bringing their best tennis when we needed it the most."
            Baylor advances to Thursday's quarterfinals and will face seventh-seeded TCU (19-7) at a time to be announced. The Horned Frogs, who are 1-2 against the Bears this season, defeated Ohio State, 4-1, in the Round of 16.
            "All you have to do is say TCU, and our guys will be ready to go," Woodson said. "There were some teams that in my opinion are national championship-caliber teams that have lost today already. So, it's exciting to be through and to a play a team like TCU that we know is going to be an absolute battle."

THE RUNDOWN
ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 1-ranked and second-seeded Baylor men's tennis defeated No. 14-ranked and No. 15 seed Ole Miss 4-1 Monday afternoon at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals.

The Bears (32-4) dominated the doubles point, then battled to scratch out three more points in singles with three matches going to decisive third sets.

BU took it to the Rebels (13-11) in doubles, as No. 75 Matias Soto/Nick Stachowiak grabbed a fast 6-1 win over Brady Draheim/Simon Junk on court two. Finn Bass/Charlie Broom sealed the opening tally for the Bears with a 6-3 defeat of Jakob Cadonau/Lukas Engelhardt on court three.

No. 9 Constantin Frantzen/Sven Lah were up 5-2 on the No. 1 doubles team in the nation, Finn Reynolds/Tim Sandkaulen, when play was stopped to move on to singles.

On the individual courts, Stachowiak took care of business with a blistering 6-4, 6-0 victory on court four against John Hallquist Lithen to double BU's advantage. However, the Rebels got one back on court two as No. 16 Finn Reynolds upset No. 11 Matias Soto 6-1, 6-4 to move the scoreline to 2-1.

Baylor held first-set leads on two of the remaining four courts, but Broom and Lah fought back to flip their matches and force decisive third sets. Meanwhile, No. 21 Adrian Boitan found himself in a battle on court one, splitting his first two sets.

On court six, Spencer Furman wrapped up a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Engelhardt with a pair of set-winning breaks to push BU one point closer at 3-1.

With Boitan leading 4-3 in the third and Lah tied at 2-2 in the final frame, it was Broom who clinched it by coming back from down 0-3 in the third to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 and put Baylor through to the next round.

HIGHLIGHTS
• With the win, Baylor advances to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second-consecutive postseason and 14^th time in program history.
• Baylor's 32 wins are its most in a single-season since 2005 (33).
• BU improved to 62-21 all-time in NCAA Championship play and 1-1 in postseason matches held in Orlando, Fla., at the USTA National Campus.
• The Bears are 16-6 all-time in 4-1 postseason matches.
• BU is now 10-2 all-time as the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Championship.
• The Bears are now 28-8 in the doubles point this season and are 27-1 in matches when winning the opening tally.
• Baylor boasts a combined 151-31 (.830) mark in singles action this spring and a collective 70-23 (.753) record in doubles.
• Spencer Furman extended his singles win streak to 12 matches, tied for the team lead.
• Charlie Broom is now on a five-match singles win streak.
• Matias Soto and Nick Stachowiak lead the Bears with a seven-match doubles win streak.

STAT OF THE MATCH
45 – Total number of wins by Nick Stachowiak on the 2020-21 season after he collected a pair of victories in the Bears' defeat of Ole Miss.

TOP QUOTES
Head coach Michael Woodson
On today's match…
"Really pleased to get through today. Our guys did a phenomenal job of starting very quickly in doubles. I thought the energy was really good. They executed and did exactly what we talked about, which was try to punch them in the mouth. Credit to our guys for finding ways to flip a lot of those [singles] matches and just hang in there and take sets at the end. It's one of those matches that you're just happy to get through it and move on. There's a lot to learn from it that will make us better for Thursday."

On looking ahead to Thursday against TCU…
"We're really excited for it. At this point in the season, everybody's really good. There were some national championship caliber teams that lost today already, so to be through and play a team like TCU who we know, we know it's going to be an absolute battle. If we bring our best tennis and are super competitive and leave it all out there, we're going to be able to live with the result. We're going to be really excited and fired up. All you have to do is say 'TCU' and our guys will be ready to go."

Graduate senior Charlie Broom
On advancing to the next round…
"We know how important it is to try and finish teams off when we have the chance. I think my match, in singles, it wasn't looking great for awhile, but I was able to turn it around thankfully. Stachs cleaned up really well in his match and just crushed the guy, so when you've got someone like that playing next to you and you can feel his momentum, it just helps tremendously. I think everyone's pretty happy to be going through to the next round. I definitely think we've got some things to learn and take away from that match, but all in all we're just really happy to go through with a fairly convincing win."

Graduate senior Nick Stachowiak
On playing a tighter match than the first two rounds…
"It was a bit closer of a match, for sure, but the first two matches were also close. The score may not have shown that, but every team in the NCAA tournament is a great team and they're here for a reason. It was important for us to step on their throats and win this one convincingly, even though a lot of matches went three sets. It was just to get off the court with a 4-1 victory."

WHAT'S NEXT
No. 1-ranked and No. 2 seed Baylor (32-4) advances to face No. 7 TCU (19-7) in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Thursday, May 20, at 1 p.m. CT at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

For the latest news on the Baylor men's tennis team all season long, follow their official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorMTennis.

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