No. 3 MT Readies for Tulsa, No. 7 Virginia

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Building off a 6-1 win over then-No. 9 Texas in "one of the best indoor matches that we've had," the third-ranked Baylor men's tennis team (9-0) will host Tulsa (4-2) and No. 7 Virginia (5-1) in its final tune-ups for next week's ITA National Indoor Championship.
            The Bears face the Golden Hurricane at 2 p.m. Friday and the Cavaliers at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
            "We're definitely not looking past Tulsa," Baylor coach Michael Woodson said. "They're as good as they've been in a few years. I think they're extremely confident. They've got some older guys who have been around. We know their guys a little bit and certainly have a ton of respect for them. I think it's going to be a challenge for us, with Virginia coming in on Saturday, to not worry about that."
            Virginia, which also qualified for the ITA National Indoors, had four sweeps and a 6-1 win over Harvard before a 4-0 loss to an Ohio State team that moved up to No. 1 in the latest ITA rankings. The Cavaliers have an older team with three grad students, three seniors and five ranked players, led by sophomore Chris Rodesch at No. 17.
            Baylor is 11-3 all-time versus Tulsa and 5-9 against Virginia, losing to the eventual national champions in the NCAA semifinals in 2015, when the tournament was held in Waco.
            "I think it helps you see where you are, what you need to work on," senior Sven Lah said. "It's nice to win, but I think sometimes losing can be beneficial, too. It's always a good start to get some reps in, especially before the indoors. We're going to play the top 16 teams in the country."
            While some coaches go with the same lineup "every single time," Woodson said, "I think we have more players than that."
            "That presents us with a good opportunity and a difficult challenge of trying to make sure that we're getting guys opportunities to compete," said Woodson, who has rotated 10 players in the singles lineup. "We have multiple guys that are national championship-caliber players. So, to give them all the opportunities they need and the tests they need to develop is a challenge, but a good one."
            Adrian Boitan, Matias Soto and Lah have been the constants at the top of the lineup for the last two years, while Marko Miladinovic, Finn Bass and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi swept their matches at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles in the match against Texas.
            "I think Finn is one of those guys you can rely on in big matches," said Lah, who is 6-1 with Bass at No. 1 doubles. "Even looking back to last year, he wasn't playing too much singles, but every time we were in a tough spot in doubles, I felt like he was bringing his best. And I think it's showing this year."
            TCU transfer Tadeas Paroulek is the Bears' highest-ranked player at No. 39 after a 7-3 record in fall tournaments and played his first singles match in the lineup in Baylor's 6-1 win over Idaho State on Sunday, winning 6-1, 6-0.
            Live scoring and video streaming for the Tulsa and Virginia matches are available at baylorbears.com. Fans will receive free pizza at both matches, with Baylor tennis T-shirts handed out at Saturday's match against Virginia.

WACO, Texas – The No. 3 Baylor men's tennis team is set for back-to-back 2 p.m. matches in the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center against Tulsa on Friday and No. 7 Virginia on Saturday.

The Bears (9-0) are coming off a 6-1 win over conference foe Texas, previously ranked No. 9, on Monday, Feb. 7.

BU has allowed only one point to be scored by their opponent in just three matches this season.

Baylor has recorded six sweeps so far this season, bringing the total under Michael Woodson to 23.

The series between the Bears and the Golden Hurricane is led by BU at 11-3, winning the last four out of five. The teams have not faced one another since 2019.

Tulsa (4-2) has not played a road match thus far, going 3-1 at home and 1-1 at neutral sites. The Hurricane fell to California, 4-3, and to No. 4 TCU at 4-0, but earned their first ranked win of the season over then-No. 18 Pepperdine at 4-3. Tulsa is receiving votes in the ITA's latest coaches poll.

Virginia leads the series 9-5 over Baylor, with two of the last three matchups being wins for the Bears. The two have not met since 2015.

The No. 7-ranked Cavaliers (5-1) come to Waco after falling 4-0 to then-No. 5 Ohio State on Sunday, their first loss of the season. UVA had only dropped one point to an opponent before the loss to the Buckeyes, winning 6-1 over Harvard in January. They swept Georgia Tech and Ball State in their ITA Kickoff Weekend matches. Virginia is also headed to the ITA Indoor Championships in Seattle, Washington, which will take place from Feb. 18-21. Draws have not yet been set.

Headed into the weekend, BU has eight players who have not lost a singles match so far this season, with Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi leading the pack at 8-0. Three of his wins were on court four, three on court six and two on court five. Both Finn Bass and Adrian Boitan have seven wins, Bass playing on courts three, four and five, while all of Boitans have come on court one.

Also undefeated are Matias Soto with five wins, Marko Miladinović with four, Jacob Brumm and Ethan Muza with two, while No. 39 Tadeas Paroulek won his first singles match on court six. No. 123 Sven Lah has four wins and one loss while Cole Gromley has three wins and one loss.

On the doubles side, Lah and Bass are 6-1 in dual matches, while Grassi Mazzuchi and Soto are 6-0 and Boitan and Paroulek are 4-0.

Both matches will be live streamed on PlaySight and can be viewed here, while live scoring will be available here all weekend.

Full recaps and final stats will be uploaded to BaylorBears.com after the conclusion of play.

Fans will receive free pizza at both matches, while there will be a free t-shirt giveaway at Saturday's match with the Cavaliers.

To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor men's tennis, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorMTennis.

- BaylorBears.com -

No. 3 MT Readies for Tulsa, No. 7 Virginia

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Players Mentioned

Finn Bass

Adrian Boitan

Jacob Brumm

Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi

Cole Gromley

Sven Lah

Ethan Muza

Tadeas Paroulek

Matias Soto

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