Wednesday, February 28
Waco, Texas
6 pm
Baylor
1
vs
4
Ohio State
No. 14 MT Clinches Ninth-Straight Doubles Point in 4-1 Loss to No. 1 Ohio State
2/28/2024 9:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Looking at the scores might say otherwise, but Baylor men's tennis coach Michael Woodson is convinced the 14th-ranked Bears didn't lose Wednesday's match against No. 1 Ohio State because of a gap in skill or talent.
"We're losing this match based on experience, and you can't skip steps," Woodson said of the 4-1 loss in front of a record crowd of 472 packed into the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
"We need this type of experience. And sure, it would be really nice to go out and win this match. But as a coach, you want to see our guys learn and grow and develop. There will be a ton of learning from this match."
Ohio State's experience at the top of the singles lineup was probably the biggest difference between the two top-15 teams. Not only are all six players in the singles lineup ranked, the Buckeyes (15-0) have three fifth-year players and a fourth-year senior in the top four spots.
Subbing in for 25th-ranked senior Tadeas Paroulek, who was "battling something for the last few days," junior Mark Miladinovic was the only player in the singles lineup that has been at Baylor for more than two years.
After dropping the doubles point, the Buckeyes won the first set on all six singles courts and was able to clinch the match with straight-set wins at Nos. 3, 4, 1 and 5 to hand the Bears (12-2) their first home-court loss of the year.
7transfer Oskar Brostrom Poulsen from Middle Tennessee State, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 3; and fifth-year senior Robert Cash defeated sophomore Luc Koenig by the same score at No. 4.
"I thought we got off to a slow start on a few courts," Woodson said. "I thought we were firing on a couple courts, but we allowed them back in the match too fast, and they were able to stretch some leads. I think their experience really showed in that I didn't see them plaing a lot better than us. But I saw them playing the big points a little bit more poised than we did."
Baylor sophomore Zsombor Velcz, one of just two ranked players for the Bears (at No. 83), couldn't capitalize on an early service break and lost to 37th-ranked fifth-year senior Justin Boulais< 6-4,="" 6-2,="" on="" court="">
While 75th-ranked freshman Devin Badenhorst and Miladinovic were in tight second-set battles at Nos. 2 and 6, respectively, 12th-ranked fifth-year senior Jack Anthrop got the clincher for the Buckeyes with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Baylor freshman Louis Bowden at No. 5.
"I'm very curious to see how many game points we lost," Woodson said. "Louis had three or four game points almost on every game, and (Anthrop) showed why he's the No. 12 player in the country. He played the big points very solid and didn't beat himself. It was really impressive to watch. Didn't win by talent in any way, shape or form. He just outfoxed us when the games got long. I think that's something that a freshman like Louis needs to learn."
Bouncing back from his first loss of the year, a three-setter against SMU's Liam Krall on Sunday, freshman Devin Badenhorst went toe-to-toe with 26th-ranked fifth-year senior Justin Boulais at No. 2. Boulais got a late break to win the first set, 6-4, and was up a break at 6-5 in the second.
"It was what he needed," Woodson said. "As a coach, you see guys get complacent because they've been somewhat invincible. The confidence is good, but when it takes the edge off for practice with a sense of urgency, then it can become dangerous for a young player. . . . He needed that, and I've seen him take big steps forward even over the last couple of days."
Miladinovic was up a break and two points away from serving it out for a second-set win at No. 6, leading 5-4 and 30-love after dropping the first set, 6-4.
"Marko did a great job," Woodson said. "it's not easy to have not played in a big match in a while. He played Sunday against UTRGV, but he hasn't gotten some of the reps that other guys have gotten in pressure situations. And he's been showing us every day that he's ready to go and he's improving himself through practice."
Baylor got off to a fast start in doubles, with Brostrom Paulsen and Christopher Frantzen rolling over Ohio State's Andrew Lutschaunig and Cannon Kingsley, 6-1, winning the last five games at No 3.
"I would say me and Oskar are pretty big guys," Frantzen said. "We're pretty comfortable in our service games. We go into our service games knowing that there's really n chance that anybody will break us. We're just hitting our shots, we're ready for that and just making guys play a lot. And they don't like it because we just hit it flat at them on the net."
OSU's third-ranked duo of Cash and Tracy tied it up with a 6-1 win at No. 1 over Paroulek and Velcz, but Badenhorst and Koenig clinched the first point with a 6-3 win over Boulais and Alex Baird at No. 2.
"I thought we were doing a great job of calling discipline plays at No. 2," Woodson said. "And over time, it got us better and better. And over time, it got better and better."
Baylor goes back on the road to face 11th-ranked Illinois (5-2) at 6 p.m. Friday in Urbana, Ill.
WACO, Texas – No. 14 Baylor men's tennis fell to No. 1 Ohio State, 4-1, on Wednesday evening in front of a record-breaking crowd of 472 at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. In the sixth match against the national No. 1 team in the Michael Woodson era, the Bears took the doubles point for an early 1-0 lead, but dropped singles matches at Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 5 to decide the match.
THE RUNDOWN
Taking the fifth doubles point away from Ohio State in its last seven matches, the Bears found success at the second and third doubles courts.
Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Christopher Frantzen dominated to a quick 6-1 victory at the No. 3 spot over Andrew Lutschaunig and Cannon Kingsley. The No. 3 doubles pair, Robert Cash and JJ Tracy, responded quickly in a 6-1 win of their own over Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz at Court One.
Clinching the point, Court Two's Devin Badenhorst and Luc Koenig held off the Justin Boulais and Alexander Bernard paring, 6-3, for BU's ninth-consecutive doubles point.
In singles, Ohio State got out to quick starts on all six courts, taking first sets across the court.
Tracy, the No. 3 singles player in the nation, closed his court first over Brostrom Poulsen, 6-2, 6-2. The 111th-ranked Cash was next moments after with an identical, 6-2, 6-2, match on Court Four over Koenig. On Court One, No. 27 Boulais gave the Buckeyes their third point of the match after defeating No. 83 Velcz, 6-4, 6-2.
Court Four was the clincher on Wednesday, as No. 12 Jack Anthrop took unranked freshman, Louis Bowden, 6-2, 6-2, to close out play.
Left unfinished, 75th-ranked Badenhorst battled against 26th-ranked Kingsley. After dropping the first set, the freshman forced another game for 5-5. Kingsley had the 6-5 advantage in Set Two when the match was abandoned.
Marko Miladinović was also stopped in his second set. After dropping Set One, 6-4, he fought back against the No. 100 player in the nation to be up 5-4 as the match was clinched.
HIGHLIGHTS
QUOTABLE
Head coach Michael Woodson
On today's match…
"First of all, what an amazing crowd. Really incredible showing from the Baylor Family tonight. I mean, it was awesome. So I think it got us going really quickly. There was a lot of excitement in the building well before the start of the match. In doubles, I thought we got off to just a bit of an unlucky start at One, but we were as fast to start on Three, and I thought we were doing a great job of calling disciplined plays at Two. The Buckeyes have struggled a little bit in the doubles this year, but they have some of the best doubles players in the country year after year. They're always maybe the best doubles point (team). So great for us to see. In singles, I thought we got off to a slow start on a few courts. We were firing on a couple courts, but we allowed them back in the match too fast, and then they were able to stretch some leads. I think their experience really showed in that I didn't see them playing a lot better than us, but I saw them playing the big points a little bit more poised than we did. And they were able to get excited from that and kind of run away with it."
On benefits of playing the No. 1 team in the country…
"We needed this really bad. We've had a ton of success so far this year, and we've shown that we can be a top-10 team. But to play the best team is exactly what these young guys need. Looking around, we're not losing this match based on skill. We're losing this match based on experience, and you can't skip steps. We need this type of experience. Sure, it would be really nice to go out and win this match, but as a coach, you want to see our guys learn, grow and develop, and there will be a ton of learning from this match. Frankly, over the next three weeks, I think we're going to play top-three teams four times, so it's really good for us."
Fifth-year senior Christopher Frantzen
On his dominating 6-1 win in doubles…
"Me and Oskar [Brostrom Poulsen] played really well. To win on our court, and then Luc [Koenig] and Devin [Badenhorst] got to clinch it in front of the packed house, it's not much better than that. It's a great atmosphere. It's loud, you feel great and it helps going into singles with a lot of confidence. We are pretty big guys, so we're comfortable in our service games. We know there's really no chance that anybody will break us and we're just hitting our shots. We're ready for that, and just making the guys play a lot."
On the crowd…
"That's something special at Baylor. Like me as a senior, of course, I don't want to say like I expect it, but at some point you do. We had Charlie Broom here, an old Baylor alum guy, also one of my teammates in 2020-21. And he said, he couldn't do it because of COVID because there was a 40 max limit in here. Like, he focused on just enjoy the moment. We enjoyed it, definitely, and we love to fight out there, which I'm proud of the guys. Everybody fought to the end. It's unbelievable at Baylor what we have here, especially the tennis culture."
UP NEXT
The Bears hit the road for a quick turnaround to face No. 19 Illinois in Urbana-Champaign on Friday at 6 p.m.
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Looking at the scores might say otherwise, but Baylor men's tennis coach Michael Woodson is convinced the 14th-ranked Bears didn't lose Wednesday's match against No. 1 Ohio State because of a gap in skill or talent.
"We're losing this match based on experience, and you can't skip steps," Woodson said of the 4-1 loss in front of a record crowd of 472 packed into the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
"We need this type of experience. And sure, it would be really nice to go out and win this match. But as a coach, you want to see our guys learn and grow and develop. There will be a ton of learning from this match."
Ohio State's experience at the top of the singles lineup was probably the biggest difference between the two top-15 teams. Not only are all six players in the singles lineup ranked, the Buckeyes (15-0) have three fifth-year players and a fourth-year senior in the top four spots.
Subbing in for 25th-ranked senior Tadeas Paroulek, who was "battling something for the last few days," junior Mark Miladinovic was the only player in the singles lineup that has been at Baylor for more than two years.
After dropping the doubles point, the Buckeyes won the first set on all six singles courts and was able to clinch the match with straight-set wins at Nos. 3, 4, 1 and 5 to hand the Bears (12-2) their first home-court loss of the year.
7transfer Oskar Brostrom Poulsen from Middle Tennessee State, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 3; and fifth-year senior Robert Cash defeated sophomore Luc Koenig by the same score at No. 4.
"I thought we got off to a slow start on a few courts," Woodson said. "I thought we were firing on a couple courts, but we allowed them back in the match too fast, and they were able to stretch some leads. I think their experience really showed in that I didn't see them plaing a lot better than us. But I saw them playing the big points a little bit more poised than we did."
Baylor sophomore Zsombor Velcz, one of just two ranked players for the Bears (at No. 83), couldn't capitalize on an early service break and lost to 37th-ranked fifth-year senior Justin Boulais< 6-4,="" 6-2,="" on="" court="">
While 75th-ranked freshman Devin Badenhorst and Miladinovic were in tight second-set battles at Nos. 2 and 6, respectively, 12th-ranked fifth-year senior Jack Anthrop got the clincher for the Buckeyes with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Baylor freshman Louis Bowden at No. 5.
"I'm very curious to see how many game points we lost," Woodson said. "Louis had three or four game points almost on every game, and (Anthrop) showed why he's the No. 12 player in the country. He played the big points very solid and didn't beat himself. It was really impressive to watch. Didn't win by talent in any way, shape or form. He just outfoxed us when the games got long. I think that's something that a freshman like Louis needs to learn."
Bouncing back from his first loss of the year, a three-setter against SMU's Liam Krall on Sunday, freshman Devin Badenhorst went toe-to-toe with 26th-ranked fifth-year senior Justin Boulais at No. 2. Boulais got a late break to win the first set, 6-4, and was up a break at 6-5 in the second.
"It was what he needed," Woodson said. "As a coach, you see guys get complacent because they've been somewhat invincible. The confidence is good, but when it takes the edge off for practice with a sense of urgency, then it can become dangerous for a young player. . . . He needed that, and I've seen him take big steps forward even over the last couple of days."
Miladinovic was up a break and two points away from serving it out for a second-set win at No. 6, leading 5-4 and 30-love after dropping the first set, 6-4.
"Marko did a great job," Woodson said. "it's not easy to have not played in a big match in a while. He played Sunday against UTRGV, but he hasn't gotten some of the reps that other guys have gotten in pressure situations. And he's been showing us every day that he's ready to go and he's improving himself through practice."
Baylor got off to a fast start in doubles, with Brostrom Paulsen and Christopher Frantzen rolling over Ohio State's Andrew Lutschaunig and Cannon Kingsley, 6-1, winning the last five games at No 3.
"I would say me and Oskar are pretty big guys," Frantzen said. "We're pretty comfortable in our service games. We go into our service games knowing that there's really n chance that anybody will break us. We're just hitting our shots, we're ready for that and just making guys play a lot. And they don't like it because we just hit it flat at them on the net."
OSU's third-ranked duo of Cash and Tracy tied it up with a 6-1 win at No. 1 over Paroulek and Velcz, but Badenhorst and Koenig clinched the first point with a 6-3 win over Boulais and Alex Baird at No. 2.
"I thought we were doing a great job of calling discipline plays at No. 2," Woodson said. "And over time, it got us better and better. And over time, it got better and better."
Baylor goes back on the road to face 11th-ranked Illinois (5-2) at 6 p.m. Friday in Urbana, Ill.
WACO, Texas – No. 14 Baylor men's tennis fell to No. 1 Ohio State, 4-1, on Wednesday evening in front of a record-breaking crowd of 472 at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. In the sixth match against the national No. 1 team in the Michael Woodson era, the Bears took the doubles point for an early 1-0 lead, but dropped singles matches at Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 5 to decide the match.
THE RUNDOWN
Taking the fifth doubles point away from Ohio State in its last seven matches, the Bears found success at the second and third doubles courts.
Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Christopher Frantzen dominated to a quick 6-1 victory at the No. 3 spot over Andrew Lutschaunig and Cannon Kingsley. The No. 3 doubles pair, Robert Cash and JJ Tracy, responded quickly in a 6-1 win of their own over Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz at Court One.
Clinching the point, Court Two's Devin Badenhorst and Luc Koenig held off the Justin Boulais and Alexander Bernard paring, 6-3, for BU's ninth-consecutive doubles point.
In singles, Ohio State got out to quick starts on all six courts, taking first sets across the court.
Tracy, the No. 3 singles player in the nation, closed his court first over Brostrom Poulsen, 6-2, 6-2. The 111th-ranked Cash was next moments after with an identical, 6-2, 6-2, match on Court Four over Koenig. On Court One, No. 27 Boulais gave the Buckeyes their third point of the match after defeating No. 83 Velcz, 6-4, 6-2.
Court Four was the clincher on Wednesday, as No. 12 Jack Anthrop took unranked freshman, Louis Bowden, 6-2, 6-2, to close out play.
Left unfinished, 75th-ranked Badenhorst battled against 26th-ranked Kingsley. After dropping the first set, the freshman forced another game for 5-5. Kingsley had the 6-5 advantage in Set Two when the match was abandoned.
Marko Miladinović was also stopped in his second set. After dropping Set One, 6-4, he fought back against the No. 100 player in the nation to be up 5-4 as the match was clinched.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Baylor won its ninth-consecutive and 12th overall doubles point of the season.
- BU upped its attendance record at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center to 472.
- Christopher Frantzen and Oskar Brostrom Poulsen tabbed their third sixth-straight doubles win in as many tries.
- With their doubles win, Devin Badenhorst and Luc Koenig tie Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz for the team lead in doubles wins at seven.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Michael Woodson
On today's match…
"First of all, what an amazing crowd. Really incredible showing from the Baylor Family tonight. I mean, it was awesome. So I think it got us going really quickly. There was a lot of excitement in the building well before the start of the match. In doubles, I thought we got off to just a bit of an unlucky start at One, but we were as fast to start on Three, and I thought we were doing a great job of calling disciplined plays at Two. The Buckeyes have struggled a little bit in the doubles this year, but they have some of the best doubles players in the country year after year. They're always maybe the best doubles point (team). So great for us to see. In singles, I thought we got off to a slow start on a few courts. We were firing on a couple courts, but we allowed them back in the match too fast, and then they were able to stretch some leads. I think their experience really showed in that I didn't see them playing a lot better than us, but I saw them playing the big points a little bit more poised than we did. And they were able to get excited from that and kind of run away with it."
On benefits of playing the No. 1 team in the country…
"We needed this really bad. We've had a ton of success so far this year, and we've shown that we can be a top-10 team. But to play the best team is exactly what these young guys need. Looking around, we're not losing this match based on skill. We're losing this match based on experience, and you can't skip steps. We need this type of experience. Sure, it would be really nice to go out and win this match, but as a coach, you want to see our guys learn, grow and develop, and there will be a ton of learning from this match. Frankly, over the next three weeks, I think we're going to play top-three teams four times, so it's really good for us."
Fifth-year senior Christopher Frantzen
On his dominating 6-1 win in doubles…
"Me and Oskar [Brostrom Poulsen] played really well. To win on our court, and then Luc [Koenig] and Devin [Badenhorst] got to clinch it in front of the packed house, it's not much better than that. It's a great atmosphere. It's loud, you feel great and it helps going into singles with a lot of confidence. We are pretty big guys, so we're comfortable in our service games. We know there's really no chance that anybody will break us and we're just hitting our shots. We're ready for that, and just making the guys play a lot."
On the crowd…
"That's something special at Baylor. Like me as a senior, of course, I don't want to say like I expect it, but at some point you do. We had Charlie Broom here, an old Baylor alum guy, also one of my teammates in 2020-21. And he said, he couldn't do it because of COVID because there was a 40 max limit in here. Like, he focused on just enjoy the moment. We enjoyed it, definitely, and we love to fight out there, which I'm proud of the guys. Everybody fought to the end. It's unbelievable at Baylor what we have here, especially the tennis culture."
UP NEXT
The Bears hit the road for a quick turnaround to face No. 19 Illinois in Urbana-Champaign on Friday at 6 p.m.
- BaylorBears.com -
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
12
Justin Boulais / 0 (37/-) [OSU]
66
42
#2 Singles Match
123
Cannon Kingsley / 0 (26/-) [OSU]
660
35UF
#3 Singles Match
12
JJ Tracy / 0 (3/-) [OSU]
66
22
#4 Singles Match
12
Robert Cash / 0 (111/-) [OSU]
66
22
#5 Singles Match
12
Jack Anthrop / 0 (12/-) [OSU]
66
22
#6 Singles Match
123
Alexander Bernard / 0 (100/-) [OSU]
640
45UF
Order of Finish:
3,4,1,5
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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