By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            ORLANDO, Fla. – Standing in the path of Baylor's sixth trip to the NCAA Tennis Championship semifinals is a familiar foe. 
            The top-ranked and second-seeded Bears (32-4) will play Big 12 rival and seventh-seeded TCU (19-7) at 1 p.m. CDT Thursday in the quarterfinals at the USTA National Campus. Baylor has won two of three matchups against the Horned Frogs this season but trail the all-time series, 28-35. 
            "To get through a tough match (4-1 win over Ole Miss on Monday) and be staring down the barrel of the Horned Frogs on Thursday is certainly exciting for us," Baylor head coach Michael Woodson said. "We've played them enough to know that if we control the controllables and bring our best effort, it's going to be a heck of a match and anybody can win."
            The Bears are riding a six-match winning streak and have won 16 of their last 17, including beating TCU, 5-2, in the final regular-season match in Fort Worth and then surviving a 4-3 marathon seven days later in the Big 12 Championship semifinals in Waco. 
            TCU, which swept Ohio State, 4-1, in the Round of 16, is also the only team this season that has lost the doubles point and come back to beat Baylor. On Jan. 31, the Frogs rallied from a doubles point loss to hand the Bears a 4-1 loss at the Hawkins Indoor with victories at Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 singles. 
            "It's great, as a coaching staff, to know that we have a chance at every position," TCU coach David Roditi said. "And it's great (for the players) to know that they can win at every position."
            Baylor's pattern for victory has been fairly consistent, winning the doubles point and dominating at the bottom of the lineup with grad transfers Nick Stachowiak (9-2), Charlie Broom (19-2) and Spencer Furman (14-2) at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles, respectively. But, in the win over TCU in the Big 12 tournament semifinals, the Bears rallied from a doubles point loss to sweep four of the six singles matches, including Adrian Boitan at No. 1. 
            "All the teams that are left have a great opportunity to win it all," Woodson said.  "We should have the confidence that we have the players capable of getting the job done. Honestly, for us, we've seen it all. We've won the doubles point and lost, we've lost the doubles point and won, and we've won the doubles point and won. We understand what to expect and feel like we're going to be ready for the challenge."
            Ranked 21^st, Boitan has been on a tear of late, winning 11 of his last 12 completed matches, including victories over three top-25 players. 
            "There's a big gap between the second or third spot and the first spot," said Boitan, who is 16-4 at No. 1 singles with nine wins over ranked players. "I kept telling (the coaches) that I need to get better, because I feel like I wasn't where I needed to be or what I could be. I worked hard for it. And I feel like right now, I'm playing my best tennis and I'm ready for anything."
            Woodson said 1 through 6, Baylor's players in the singles lineup are "all doing a phenomenal job of finding ways to remain competitive."
            "That's giving them the confidence to bring out their best tennis," he said. "Over the last few matches, we've seen our guys and all of our doubles teams play the best they have all season, in tournament time. I think that's really all you can ask for. They've put in the work, they've earned this opportunity to be here and they should be confident in going for it."
            While Baylor has a pair of nationally ranked players in Boitan and fellow junior Matias Soto (11^th), five of TCU's top six are all ranked with junior Alastair Gray (12^th), sophomores Luc Fomba (17^th) and Sander Jong (65^th) and freshmen Tomas Jirousek (94^th) and Jake Fearnley (110^th). 
            "We have a strong, combative drive to beat them, for obvious reasons," said Gray, who has split a pair of matches with Soto and lost to Boitan at the Big 12 tournament. "(They are) one of our biggest rivals, and both teams in the top 10, so it's always a massive match."
            More than just tennis ability, Woodson said Thursday's match will be decided by "how much we embrace the pressure, embrace the moment and enjoy ourselves."
            "If we're willing to go out there and compete and give it everything we've got on the day at every single spot and off the court – staff, players, fans, you name it – then we're going to have an opportunity to win," he said. "And that's really all we can ask for."
            The Baylor-TCU winner advances to Friday's semifinals and will face the winner between third-seeded Tennessee and No. 11 Georgia, which upset sixth-seeded and ITA National indoor champion North Carolina. 
            "To be honest, I'm just happy that it's going to be a great match," Boitan said. "It's going to be a great Big 12 showdown, and that's all that matters. The better player is going to win and the better team is going to get through it."
 
 
ORLANDO, Fla. – The No. 1-ranked and second-seeded Baylor men's tennis team meets No. 7 TCU in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Thursday at 1 p.m. CT at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

The Bears (32-4) and Horned Frogs (19-7) will square off for the fourth time this season with a spot in the Final Four on the line.

This marks Baylor's 14^th appearance in the quarterfinals in program history and fourth time in the last seven postseasons, including back-to-back seasons after reaching the Elite 8 in 2019.

BU is 62-21 all-time in NCAA Championship play and 5-8 all-time in the quarterfinals. As the No. 2 seed, the Bears are 10-2 in the NCAA postseason.

TCU holds a 35-28 advantage in the all-time series against Baylor, though the Bears have taken four of the last five matchups, including a 2-1 mark in 2021 matches. In their most recent contest, BU outlasted the Horned Frogs in a 4-3 decision in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

The two sides have met three times in the NCAA postseason, most recently in 2003 when the Bears claimed their only victory over TCU in the NCAA Second Round. The Horned Frogs took both previous postseason matchups in 1998 and 2000.

To reach the quarters, Baylor took care of No. 14 Ole Miss, 4-1, while TCU advanced past No. 35 Ohio State by the same scoreline on Monday in Orlando.

BU enters the quarterfinals on a six-match winning streak, which included the 2021 Big 12 Tournament Championship in Waco on April 25-26. The Bears have won 16 of their last 17 matches, dating back to March 11.

Baylor boasts a 16-4 record against ranked opponents this season and is a combined 6-3 against teams remaining in the NCAA tournament field.

BU is 28-8 in the doubles point this season and is 27-1 in matches when winning the opening tally. Currently, the Bears are a combined 151-31 (.830) in singles play and 70-23 (.753) in doubles dual matches.  

Ryan Dickerson and Spencer Furman lead the team with 12-match singles winning streaks. Adrian Boitan has won 11 of his last 12 completed matches at No. 1 singles, while Charlie Broom has taken five straight and 10 of his last 11 decisions at the No. 5 singles position. In doubles, Matias Soto and Nick Stachowiak lead the team with a seven-match win streak.
 
Live stats will be provided here, while live video coverage will be available via the TennisONE app and website with select matches being broadcast on the Tennis Channel over the course of the championship's remaining rounds.
 
For the latest news on the Baylor men's tennis team all season long, follow their official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorMTennis.

NCAA TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
(USTA National Campus, Orlando, Fla.)

NCAA Quarterfinals
Thursday, May 20:
No. 2 seed Baylor (32-4) vs. No. 7 seed TCU (19-7), 1 p.m. CT
 
NCAA Semifinals
Friday, May 21:
Baylor/TCU winner vs. Tennessee/Georgia winner, either 1 p.m. CT OR 6:30 p.m. CT

NCAA Championship
Saturday, May 22:
TBD, 6:30 p.m. CT