No. 1 MT Punches Ticket to Orlando with Sweep of No. 37 Oregon

Sunday, May 9

Waco, Texas

2:00 p.m.

Baylor

Oregon

No. 1 MT Punches Ticket to Orlando with Sweep of No. 37 Oregon

5/9/2021 7:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Bears advance to Round of 16 for 19th time in program history

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Not even Mother Nature can stop or even slow down this top-ranked and second-seeded Baylor men's tennis team.
            Overcoming a one-hour, nine-minute lightning delay and a move to the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center, the Bears (31-4) brought a different energy in the venue change and defeated Oregon, 4-0, in Sunday's second-round match to earn the program's 19^th appearance in the NCAA Round of 16.
            "When we came in, I felt like all our guys on every single court really stepped it up a notch and took the match," said Baylor head coach Michael Woodson. "I felt like we were ahead, but we really finished it strong. The energy on and off the court was really, good for our guys."
            Before moving indoors, Baylor had already claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and took the first set on four of the six singles courts, the other two losing first-set tiebreakers.
            Leading on all three courts in doubles, the Bears got the first point on the board when Charlie Broom and Finn Bass knocked off Brandon Lam and Ryoma Matsushita at No. 3, t6-4, hen Nick Stachowiak and Matias Soto closed it out at No. 2 with a 6-4 win over Emmanuel Coste and Jesper Klov-Nillsson.
            "It's massive, the doubles point is huge," Bass said. "Then, you only have to win three out of the six singles, whereas winning four against a team like Oregon is really difficult. It just set the team up really nicely for the rest of the match."
            When the match was delayed and eventually moved indoors, Woodson said Soto was "struggling a little bit" at No. 2 and No. 1 player Adrian Boitan was "actually struggling physically the last few days . . . he was hanging on by a thread."
            "I thought 'Whew, this is really good for us,''' who was working on the two courts at the top of Baylor's lineup. "But. the other coaches came in and were like, 'We had them on the ropes. This is terrible. We were about to win.' I just felt like there was some uncertainty, which is good if we are going to go far in the tournament, to have to wait, change venues, regroup."
            Quickly grabbing the momentum, Baylor got several service breaks when the match moved indoors and was able to close it out with wins at Nos. 3, 6 and 1 to clinch it. The Bears will face 15^th-seeded Ole Miss (13-10) in the Round of 16 at 12 p.m. CDT Monday, May 17, at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
            Three seeded teams – Kentucky, UCF and Wake Forest – and other strong teams like Michigan and Stanford did not advance.
            "There's a lot of slippery bananas out there," Bass said. "You've just got to take it match by match, because everyone who qualifies for this tournament is a top team or they've done something great in the season. So, it's just taking it step by step, match by match. Things are going to get tougher, obviously, but we look forward to going to Orlando."
            Giving away a couple service games in an up-and-down second set after winning the opener, 6-1, Sven Lah found himself in a second-set tiebreaker for the second-straight day. This time, though, he finished, jumping out to a 5-1 lead and finishing it off, 6-1, 7-6(5), with a big serve and half-volley winner.
            Grad transfer Spencer Furman from Duke got the next point on the board for the Bears, making quick work of the Ducks' Luke Vandecasteele, 6-4, 6-3.
            "Nick was playing next to me, and he got a break right away," Furman said. "We weren't really expecting to grab the momentum, but we did, which helped us a lot in getting to the finish line."
            While Soto and Broom had split sets at Nos. 2 and 5, respectively, and Stachowiak was leading Oregon's Klov-Nilsson, 7-5, 4-4, at No. 4, Boitan got a late break at No. 1 and clinched for the third-consecutive match, beating Coste, 6-4, 6-4.
            Baylor's 31 wins is the most in a single season since 2005, when the Bears lost to UCLA, 4-3, in a repeat of the national championship final in College Station.

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – It was another sweep for the top-ranked team in the nation, as No. 2-seeded Baylor men's tennis took care of No. 37 Oregon, 4-0, Sunday afternoon in Waco.

The Bears (31-4) overcame a one-hour, nine-minute weather delay that forced the match to move inside from the Hurd Tennis Center to the Hawkins Indoor to advance to the program's 19^th NCAA Round of 16.

Once again, BU started fast on the doubles courts as Finn Bass/Charlie Broom handled business at the No. 3 position, winning 6-4 over Brandon Lam/Ryoma Matsushita. Then, No. 75 Matias Soto/Nick Stachowiak sealed a 6-3 victory on court two against Emmanuel Coste/Jesper Klov-Nilsson to hand the opening tally to the Bears.

Heading into singles, it was Sven Lah who got it going quickly with a runaway 6-1 first set on court three. All other Bears were locked in tight matches, as three more openers went Baylor's way while Broom and No. 11 Soto fell in first-set tiebreakers.

Just a few games into the second sets on all six courts, play was delayed due to lightning in the area. After the pause, BU brought its energy indoors and started to put points on the board. It was Lah who struck first, finishing off a 6-1, 7-6(5) win over Quinn Vandecasteele, followed by Spencer Furman on court six with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Luke Vandecasteele.

As Stachowiak battled in a 7-5, 4-4 match on court four, Soto and Broom fought back to force third-sets in their respective matches. But, for the third-consecutive match, it was Adrian Boitan who clinched it for Baylor at No. 1 singles with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Coste.

With the win, Baylor advances to face 14^th-ranked and 15^th-seeded Ole Miss in the NCAA Round of 16 on Monday, May 17, at 12 p.m. CT at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor's 31 wins are its most in a single-season since 2005 (33).
• BU improved to 61-21 all-time in NCAA Championship play and 33-1 when hosting in Waco.
• The Bears are 35-4 all-time in 4-0 postseason matches.
• Baylor picked up its 18^th sweep of the season and 14^th at home.
• BU is now 9-2 all-time as the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Championship.
• The Bears are now 27-8 in the doubles point this season and are 26-1 in matches when winning the opening tally.
• Baylor boasts a combined 148-30 (.831) mark in singles action this spring and a collective 68-23 (.747) record in doubles.
• Spencer Furman extended his win streak to 11 matches with his 20^th singles victory of the spring.
• Adrian Boitan is now on a five-match singles win streak.
• Matias Soto and Nick Stachowiak lead the Bears with a six-match doubles win streak.

STAT OF THE MATCH
19 – Baylor is advancing to the NCAA Round of 16 for the 19^th time in program history.

TOP QUOTES
Head coach Michael Woodson
On moving indoors…
"It was interesting being out there as a coach because you are looking around and you're focusing on a couple courts. On my courts, Matias [Soto] was struggling a little bit, and Adrian [Boitan] was actually struggling physically. I just felt like there was some uncertainty, which is good if we are going to go far in the tournament to have to wait, change venues, regroup. It helped some of our guys [by] stopping some momentum for other guys, but it was just about setting the tone as soon as we came into the indoor facility. I thought they did a phonemical job. When we came in, I felt like all our guys on every single court really stepped it up a notch and took the match. I felt like we were ahead, but we really finished it strong. The energy on and off the court was really good for our guys."

On advancing to Orlando…
"[I thought winning] at Michigan and at Wake Forest were probably two of our best wins on the year and neither one of those teams are in Orlando. I think anytime you can advance to the round of 16 in any sport in college athletics is a huge deal. We are really excited about it. For some of these guys, they haven't been in this position before so them to handle it as well as they did, coming from programs where they haven't had that type of success is really special. I thought that Oregon played together, they pushed us to the limits and tested us on every single court. It's good to get through."

Graduate senior Spencer Furman
On gathering momentum after moving indoors…
"I felt like on my court, I was starting my jump in the second set and then the lightning happened, but I was able to get out to a quick start indoors and I felt like it got much tougher as it went on indoors because we got used to it. We were fortunate to get to hit earlier inside so that helped us a lot."

Third-year sophomore Finn Bass
On getting it done in doubles…
"It's massive, the doubles point is huge. Just for momentum going up 1-0 is massive, and you only have to win three out of six singles, whereas winning four against a team like Oregon is really difficult. It just sets the team up really nicely for the rest of the match."

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor (31-4) advances to face No. 14 Ole Miss (13-10) in the NCAA Round of 16 on Monday, May 17, at 12 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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