By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            FORT WORTH – Michael Woodson calls it "Championship Soto," the level of tennis that Baylor senior Matias Soto reaches in the big moments.
            When Sunday's Big 12 Championship final against top-ranked TCU was moved to the Bayard H. Friedman indoor courts after a one-hour lightning delay, "Championship Soto" got a break in the first game of the third set and defeated 14^th-ranked Juan Carlos Aguilar, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3, to clinch a 4-2 win and the Bears' third-straight Big 12 Championship title. 
            His Baylor teammates rushed the court and dogpiled Soto before dousing Woodson with water to celebrate the Bears' 25^th overall Big 12 championship and 11^th tournament title. 
            "Today was great. I think it was one of the best experiences I've had so far in my college career," said the 43^rd-ranked Soto, who picked up his fourth win over a ranked player and improved to 12-8 in dual-match play. "We came to the last moment, go indoors, me and Sven (Lah), the two seniors. And I think we couldn't be better ready and prepared for this moment."
            Improving to 26-3, Baylor knocked off the Horned Frogs (23-4) for the second time this season. The two teams split two earlier matches, but TCU handed Baylor a 4-3 loss on its home courts en route to winning the regular-season conference championship. 
            "This was one of the best college tennis matches I've been a part of, to be honest," Woodson said. "They're never going to forget this moment. And they, frankly deserve it with everything that they've been through. I'm so proud of these guys."
            TCU transfer Tadeas Paroulek earned Most Outstanding Player honors, going undefeated and beating the Frogs' Pedro Vives Mardcos, 7-5, 6-1, at No. 5 to give Baylor a 3-0 lead. 
            "The MOP doesn't really matter. The main thing is that we won as a team. It's an unbelievable feeling, especially against TCU," said Paroulek, who played his first two seasons in Fort Worth before transferring to Baylor. 
            "It was an epic battle today. Unbelievable performance from our two captains, Sven and Mati. They played really well at the end and took the title back to Waco."
            Undefeated when they win the doubles point (20-0), the Bears got the first point on the board with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles. The sixth-ranked duo of Lah and Finn Bass knocked off second-ranked Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley, 6-3, then Soto and Juan Pablo Grazzi Mazzuchi clinched it with a 6-4 win over ninth-ranked Sander Jong and Lui Maxted on Court 2. 
            The teams split the six first-set singles matches, with Soto losing a tiebreaker to Aguilar, 7-4, on an ace when the chair umpire didn't notice him calling a timeout on set point. 
            "I was holding my hand up because the ball was still moving," Soto said. "No one saw it, so they gave the point to him. You need those things to get you fired up. Even though I was playing against one of my best friends on the tour, we're still TCU against Baylor. All I said to myself was, 'This is not happening, we are not losing.'''
            Dominant at the bottom of the lineup, Baylor extended the lead to 3-0 with wins at Nos. 5 and 6 singles. Mazzuchi was first to the finish line with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Tomas Jirousek at No. 6, then Paroulek got the next point on the board by beating Marcos at No. 5. 
            Things started turning TCU's way when Fomba handed third-ranked Adrian Boitan his first dual-match loss of the season at No. 1, 6-4, 7-5. Bass got broken late in the second and third sets, falling to the 86^th-ranked Fearnley, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, at No. 4 just before the delay. 
            "That was a tough one," Woodson said, "because it was back and forth the whole math and just a high-quality match from Jake and Finn, two guys that grew up following each other. It did feel like a little bit of momentum was going their way. But frankly, I think (the delay) helped us."
            When play resumed, Lah and Soto both got quick service breaks to swing the momentum back to Baylor. 
            "I'm holding back tears being out on the court with Sven and Mati," Woodson said. "The last two (matches), we need one, and they're both in an amazing position to win and play their best tennis under pressure."
            Lah got broken and trailed Jong, 5-6, in the third set at No. 3, but he held serve and was up 5-1 in the tiebreaker when the match was clinched. 
            "I think we both are better indoors, so I think we trust ourselves," Soto said. "I think we came with the best in that moment, and we just did it."
Baylor now awaits the NCAA Championship selections that will be announced at 5 p.m. Monday, May 2, in an NCAA.com selection show. Individual singles and doubles selections will be released the next day. 


FORT WORTH, Texas – The No. 4-ranked and second-seeded Baylor men's tennis team took the Big 12 Championship for the third-straight time, winning 4-2 over the top-seeded and No. 1-ranked TCU for the crown on Sunday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
 
The Bears (26-3) secured the program's 25^th Big 12 title with the victory over TCU (23-4). It was the second time on the season that BU downed the Frogs when they were at the top of the ITA rankings. 

Baylor's Tadeas Paroulek earned the Most Outstanding Player honor from the Big 12 after going undefeated in the tournament, 1-0 on the doubles courts and 2-0 in singles. He was the clincher for the Bears against Texas in the semifinals.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Baylor continued to start hot in doubles, with court one getting the first win and then court two serving as the clincher for the point. No. 6-ranked Sven Lah and Finn Bass bested second-ranked Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley, 6-3. The No. 15 pair of Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and Matias Soto clinched it for the Bears with a 6-4 win over ninth-ranked Sander Jong and Lui Maxted. On court three, Adrian Boitan and Tadeas Paroulek went unfinished, up 5-4 over Juan Carlos Aguilar and Pedro Vives Marcos when the point was earned.
 
In singles, Grassi Mazzuchi kept it kicking on court six, winning with a swift 6-3, 6-1 win over Tomas Jirousek. Next came No. 70 Paroulek, who bested Vives Marcos on court five, winning 7-5, 6-1 to put the Bears up 3-0. On court one, No. 3 Boitan was in an absolute battle with No. 18 Fomba, but fell 6-4, 7-5. 
 
Bass went into a third set with No. 86 Fearnley on court four, with the Horned Frog taking the point with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win. With two courts left to finish, a lightning delay went into effect. Moving indoors, the match was picked up again at 6:40 p.m. With fans sandwiching on courts one and five, No. 43 Soto and No. 14 Aguilar played on court two, while No. 77 Lah and No. 67 Jong played on court four. In a race to the finish with the team score at 3-2, Soto pulled it out on court two, winning 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3. The Bears dogpiled Soto as he clinched the match and secured the Bears' third-straight Big 12 Championship.
 
To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor men's tennis, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorMTennis. 
 
TENNIS RESULTS
#4 [2 seed] Baylor (4) vs. #1 [1 seed] TCU (2)
Fort Worth, Texas – Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center
SINGLES COMPETITION
1. #18 Luc Fomba (TCU) def. #3 Adrian Boitan (BU) 6-4, 7-5
2. #43 Matias Soto (BU) def. #14 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TCU) 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3
3. #77 Sven Lah (BU) def. #67 Sander Jong (TCU) 3-6, 7-6(0), 6-6(5-1) unfinished
4. #86 Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. Finn Bass (BU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
5. #70 Tadeas Paroulek (BU) def. Pedro Vives Marcos (TCU) 7-5, 6-1
6. Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi (BU) def. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) 6-3, 6-1
 
Order of finish: 6, 5, 1, 4, 2
 
DOUBLES COMPETITION
1. #6 Sven Lah/Finn Bass (BU) def. #2 Luc Fomba/Jake Fearnley (TCU) 6-3
2. #15 Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi/Matias Soto (BU) def. #9 Sander Jong/Lui Maxted (TCU) 6-4
3. Adrian Boitan/Tadeas Paroulek (BU) vs. Juan Carlos Aguilar/Pedro Vives Marcos (TCU) 5-4 unfinished
 
Order of finish: 1, 2