No. 3 MT Prepares for ITA Indoor Championships

Friday, February 18

Seattle, Wash.

8:30PM

Baylor

Ole Miss

No. 3 MT Prepares for ITA Indoor Championships

2/17/2022 4:29:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Bracket Cracked Racquets Redzone Coverage

Bears ready to compete against Ole Miss in Washington to open the tournament

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Last year, the ITA National Team Indoor Championship was a measuring stick for a Baylor team that ended up as the Big 12 champion and runner-up at the NCAA Championships three months later.
            Ranked No. 3 and seeded second this time, the Bears (11-0) are "going to give ourselves the best shot to raise the trophy at the end."
            Baylor will face 15^th-seeded Ole Miss (9-1) in the opening round of the 16-team tournament at 8:30 p.m. CT Friday at the Seattle Tennis Club.
            "We're certainly looking at it as an opportunity to gain great experience, to measure ourselves against the best competition in the country, kind of see what they're made of," Baylor head coach Michael Woodson said. "But, I'd be lying to you if I didn't say we were going there to win."
            More of an unknown at this point a year ago, the Bears knocked off Texas and Illinois before losing to second-seeded North Carolina, 4-1, in the championship.
            "Of course, the motivation is right there. We came up short last year," said senior Matias Soto, who is 5-1 in singles in dual-match play this spring. "It was just a matter of points to get the championship. I think the expectations are very high for us this year. We have that feeling from last year that, of course, we don't want to repeat that this year."
            Baylor is going into the tournament riding the momentum of top-10 wins over Texas and Virginia, who are both in the 16-team field for the ITA National Indoor.
            In last Saturday's 4-2 victory over then-No. 7 Virginia, the Bears got the opening doubles point and straight-set wins by Finn Bass and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi at Nos. 5 and 6 singles before Sven Lah clinched it by beating 29^th-ranked Ryan Goetz, 7-5, 0-6, 6-1, at No. 3.
            "It's definitely hard to win a match like that and not feel better," Woodson said. "Guys that hadn't lost this year took losses. I think that's really good for our growth. And it's just a really huge learning opportunity anytime you get exposed like that. For us to win where we don't get a point from Adrian (Boitan) or Matias or Marko (Miladinovic), I think, feels really good. To get over the finish line like we did was great experience for the guys."
            Boitan was named Big 12 Player of the Week after going 2-0 at No. 1 singles and 3-0 at No. 3 doubles with sophomore transfer Tadeas Paroulek in Baylor's wins last week against then-No. 9 Texas, Tulsa and seventh-ranked Virginia.
            After losing grad transfers Nick Stachowiak, Charlie Broom and Spencer Furman, who were so dominant in the bottom half of the singles lineup, the question mark for Baylor coming into this season was the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles. But, those questions have been answered with a combined record of 25-3 at those three spots.
            "It doesn't matter who we put at 4, 5 and 6, we're still in a very good position," Soto said. "Teddy (Paroulek), Juampi (Mazzuchi), Marko and Finn have all been amazing. We never had doubt of them playing in those positions. I think we have the best players in the country at those three spots."
            In the other first-round matchups at the Seattle Tennis Center, sixth-seeded Stanford is playing 11^th-seeded South Carolina, third-seeded Tennessee will take on No. 14 Texas A&M and seventh-seeded Kentucky faces No. 10 USC.
            On the other half of the bracket at the Nordstrom Tennis Center, fifth-seeded TCU is playing 12^th-seeded Virginia, 13^th-seeded Texas is matched against No. 4 Florida, eighth-seeded Wake Forest faces No. 9 Georgia and No. 1 Ohio State squares off against 16^th-seeded and host Washington.
            "To win this tournament, you have to play four matches in four days," Woodson said. "And there are no cupcakes in this tournament. You're not going to get off the court in an hour and a half. You're going to more likely play three hours. Every match is going to be super-close. So, to be able to have guys you can slot in physically will put you at an advantage. Just making sure that they're all ready day-in and day-out is the most important thing."
            The tournament bracket, live scoring and video streaming are available at the ITA Tennis link.

SEATTLE, Wash. – Ranked No. 3 and seeded second for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, the Baylor men's tennis team will face No. 15 Ole Miss at 8:30 p.m. CT Friday at the Seattle Tennis Club.

The Bears (11-0) are coming off two top-10 wins entering the tournament, with junior Adrian Boitan being named Big 12 Player of the Week after going 2-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles against then-No. 9 Texas, Tulsa and No. 7 Virginia.

Along with Ole Miss, the ITA Indoor Championship participants are Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio State, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, USC, Virginia, Wake Forest and host Washington. All included are seeded 1-16, with Baylor being the No. 2 seed and Ole Miss at No. 15. The tournament will be split between the Nordstrom Tennis Center on UW's campus and the Seattle Tennis Club, with BU on the STC side of the bracket.

Ole Miss is currently 9-1, with all nine wins coming on its home court. The Rebels defeated a then-ranked No. 22 Oklahoma squad in the ITA Kickoff Weekend, but fell to No. 4 TCU on Feb. 6 in Fort Worth for their only road match. The Rebels have played doubleheaders with Tennessee State, Alcorn and North Alabama this season, all at home, as well.

With all six players in the singles lineup being undefeated or having just one loss, Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and Boitan lead the pack with 9-0 and 8-0 dual-match records, respectively. Boitan's wins have all come on court one.

On the doubles side, all three pairs continue to dominate for the Bears. Baylor's No. 12 pair of Finn Bass and Sven Lah are now at 6-1 in dual matches on court one. The duo of Matias Soto and Grassi Mazzuchi are holding their own on court two, still undefeated at 8-0. Boitan and Tadeas Paroulek also stay undefeated at 6-0, playing five of their wins on court three and one on court two.

In last season's Indoor Championships, a field of just eight, BU downed No. 5 Texas, 4-0, then swept Illinois in the semifinals. In the final, No. 2 North Carolina took the match, 4-1, over the Bears with Charlie Broom scoring the lone point on court five.

QUOTABLE – Head Coach Michael Woodson
"It's a new season, a new tournament. Last year's tournament was a little bit different, so we're really not where we were last year yet. To even get to the tournament last year, it was eight. So, I feel like we have a lot of work left to do to be in a position where we were last year. But, definitely fortunate to be in the spot that we're in and excited to get out there with what I think is maybe the strongest National Indoor field we've seen since it started."

The tournament will be live streamed and live stats will be available, with links coming soon. They can be found on the Baylor men's tennis schedule once presented. Cracked Racquets will also be providing red zone coverage on its YouTube channel. A full recap and final box scores from each match can be found on BaylorBears.com after the conclusion of each day of play.

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

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