MT Faces Florida State to Begin NCAA Tournament Play

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            For maybe the first time in over three months, the 43^rd-ranked Baylor men's tennis team will be "the best version of themselves" when the Bears (17-15) play No. 18 Florida State (19-8) at 10 a.m. CT Friday in an NCAA Tournament first-round matchup at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C.
            While Baylor was technically back at full strength in a 4-1 win at Oklahoma State on April 16, Tadeas Paroulek and Finn Bass were both returning from injuries and still knocking off some of the rust from being sidelined.
            Baylor coach Michael Woodson said having the two weeks since the Big 12 Tournament to "train and practice have been really valuable for us and for the guys."
            "Finn was a little rusty, and Teddy (Paroulek) was coming back from a sprained ankle," Woodson said, "so we haven't felt great, even when we were out there. . . . I think we're going to see the best version of ourselves, probably since we played Florida State the last time. So, that's unfortunate for them that they're going to catch us at our best again. But it's an exciting opportunity for us, for sure."
            The Bears were out to a 5-1 start and ranked in the top 15 when they defeated Florida State, 4-2, on Jan. 28 in the ITA Kickoff Weekend. But Bass suffered a torn abdominal muscle and was sidelined for seven weeks, part of a stretch when Baylor lost seven in a row and fell out of the top 50.
            To make matters worse, just when Bass was starting to work his way back into the lineup, Paroulek missed five matches with a sprained ankle. In his first match back in the singles lineup, Baylor knocked off Oklahoma State to finish in a three-way tie for third in the Big 12 standings.
            In the Big 12 Tournament, the Bears won the doubles point but fell at Nos. 1-4 singles to lose to Oklahoma, 4-3, in the quarterfinals.
            "Obviously, we didn't want to lose that match," Bass said. "That was a heartbreaker, but that's sports. And we've had extra days to prepare for NCAAs and just work on the things that we need to work on. Work hard with fitness and head into the weekend feeling strong and confident."
            As a top-4 national seed each of the last two years, the Bears were the NCAA runners-up in 2021 and a quarterfinalist last year. So, even as the underdogs, they have skins on the wall that Florida State and South Carolina just don't have.
            "It's very important that we come out and use our experience and really embrace the underdog role," Woodson said. "We're the spoilers of the draw, and I think everybody knows that. There's not a lot of pressure on us, we're the lower-ranked team. If we lose in the first round, 'Oh well, Florida State was supposed to beat Baylor.' They're the ones that are supposed to advance.
            "South Carolina is supposed to come out of the group because they're playing at home. But we know that we have a roster and results in the past that have shown that we can beat both of these teams and come out of that region. We have to play into that, for sure, and decrease the pressure and build up the confidence."
            Coming off a 4-1 loss to Virginia in the ACC Championship semifinals, Florida State has a ranked doubles pair in Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc and Joshua Dous at No. 34, plus Cornut-Chavinc at No. 7 and Youcef Rihane at No. 112 in singles.
            Paroulek and freshman Zsombor Velcz are 15^th in doubles and were selected to the NCAA Individual Tournament, while Bass and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi are 40^th. In singles, Paroulek and Bass are 75^th and 93^rd, respectively.
            "We know how good we are. We know we can beat pretty much any team on any given day, if all of us are firing well," Bass said. "But it is a different mentality. Obviously, as a really high seed, you have the expectation, everybody wants to shoot you down. And we're going in this year as an underdog, so we have less pressure. Hopefully, we can just go out and play freely and play well."
            South Carolina, which handed Baylor a 4-0 loss at the ITA Indoor Team Championships, will play South Carolina State at 1 p.m. CT Friday. The first-round winners play at 1 p.m. Saturday, with a spot in the Round of 16 on the line.
            "I want to give our guys a shot to really make a run," Woodson said. "We know it's not going to be easy. Going to play Florida State, which just missed out on hosting, is definitely not easy, but we know we can do it. That's exciting."

COLUMBIA, S.C. – After getting its 25^th-straight bid to the NCAA DI Men's Tennis Team Championships, Baylor men's tennis is set to open the big dance against the No. 18 Florida State Seminoles on Friday morning. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m. CT at the Carolina Tennis Center.

The Bears (17-15) already have one win over Florida State (19-8) in a 4-2 victory during ITA Kickoff Weekend to advance the Bears to their 12th-straight ITA Team Indoor Championship tournament.

Friday's match will be the first NCAA Championship match to be played by the Bears in Columbia as they enter with a 22-2 record in the first round.

Florida State ended its conference tournament in the semifinal round, falling to No. 8 Virginia, 4-1, and went 8-4 in ACC play. Oklahoma squeaked out a 4-3 win over BU in the Bears' last match nearly two weeks ago.

The Bears are ranked 43 in Thursday morning's rankings and have four entries in the individual lists. Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz are at No. 15 in doubles, followed by Finn Bass and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi at No. 40. In singles, Paroulek is 75^th and Bass is 93^rd.

FSU has one doubles ranked pair in Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc and Joshua Dous at No. 34. In singles, Cornut-Chauvinc leads at seven, while Youcef Rihane is No. 112.

With a win on Friday, the Bears would face the winner between South Carolina State (10-9) and ninth-seeded regional-host South Carolina (19-6) at 1 p.m. CT Saturday to advance to the super regional round at another campus site.

Live scoring and live court cameras will be available online for fans to follow along with the first two rounds.

For the latest news on the Baylor men's tennis team all year long, follow its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorMTennis.

- BaylorBears.com -

MT Faces Florida State to Begin NCAA Tournament Play

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Players Mentioned

Finn Bass

Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi

Tadeas Paroulek

Zsombor Velcz

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