MT Closes Season in NCAA Tournament Against No. 18 San Diego, 4-1

Friday, May 3

College Station, Texas

10 am

Baylor

San Diego

MT Closes Season in NCAA Tournament Against No. 18 San Diego, 4-1

5/3/2024 6:51:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – In the type of match that "belonged in the Round of 16," 18^th-ranked San Diego won four tiebreakers and survived a four-hour rain delay to defeat the 39^th-ranked Baylor men, 4-1, Friday afternoon in an NCAA regional first-round match at Texas A&M's Mitchell Tennis Center.

Showing tremendous fight after a gut-punch doubles-point loss, the Bears (18-12) had a match point at No. 3 singles with first-semester freshman Devin Badenhorst and were up a break at No. 6 singles with Middle Tennessee transfer Oskar Brostrom Poulsen when the Torreros (23-3) closed it out.

"In very difficult circumstances, I thought our guys just came together really well and battled and pushed and gave themselves an opportunity to get over the line, which was really fun to watch" said Baylor coach Michael Woodson. "I thought it was an excellent college tennis match that I know I'm going to remember for a long time, for a number of reasons. But really proud of the way that guys continued to fight back and find ways to give us a chance to win."

Playing in his first NCAA regional, Badenhorst teamed with sophomore Zsombor Velcz, forcing a deciding tiebreaker with San Diego's Stian Klaassen and Oliver Tarvet at No. 2 doubles. And with Brostrom and senior Tadeas Paroulek up 4-3 in a tiebreaker on Court 1, the Bears were positioned to pull off the doubles point.

But after the first rain delay of the match, the Torreros' duo of Klaassen and Tarvet won their tiebreaker at No. 2, 7-4, to clinch it and put the first point on the board.

"It's hard to see us get to that point and then not be able to get over the line," Woodson said. "Devin and Z did a great job. . . . I felt like we gave ourselves a chance from start to finish. And there are ups and downs, but we were there the whole time, which I really loved seeing."

Following a four-hour delay, the Bears quickly dug an even deeper hole, falling behind on five of the six singles courts. But Badenhorst and Paroulek picked up first-set wins and three matches were pushed to three sets.

Offsetting a straight-sets win at No. 5 by Klaassen over Baylor sophomore Luc Koenig, Paroulek won a first-set tiebreaker and defeated 85^th-ranked Iiro Vasa, 7-6(5), 6-3, to get the Bears on the board.

"Incredible," Woodson said. "Just a really impressive effort from Teddy; really proud of him and the way he stepped up and led today. Him and (Christopher Frantzen), both of those guys did a great job all day of keeping the guys locked in and focused and really competing throughout. Teddy just became too much for the guy over time. We're certainly going to miss him and Chris. It's not going to be the same without them."

Freshman Louis Bowden also lost in straight sets at No. 4, falling to Russian grad student Savriyan Danilov, 7-6(1), 6-3. The Bears were 1-4 on the day in tiebreakers, with one unfinished in doubles.

"It's very close, those are the margins," Woodson said. "On a different day, we win those and we win the match. And that's really all you can for at this level."

Trailing 3-1 at that point, the Bears needed to win the remaining three matches that were all in third sets. Velcz led 2-1 at No. 1, but the eighth-ranked Tarvet won five-consecutive games to finish off a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over Velcz that ended the match.

While Brostrom led Sacchitt Sharma, 3-1, in the third set at No. 6, Badenhorst had a match point on the Torreros' Lambert Ruland at 5-3, 40-30 at No. 3.

"Devin's day was the most impressive performance I've ever seen on a tennis court, will probably never be topped," Woodson said. "That was just amazing what he was able to do: to stay focused, to play so confidently and so free. He just stayed the course the whole time. I'm so proud of him. He has an incredibly bright future."

While Baylor saw its season end, San Diego advances to face 15^th-seeded Texas A&M at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Mitchell Tennis Center, with a spot in the Super Regional round on the line.

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 39 Baylor men's tennis completed its 2024 dual-match season on Friday evening at the Mitchell Tennis Center with a match that began at 10 a.m. and did not end until approximately 5:30 p.m. due to weather.

Navigating the conditions, the Bears nearly took the doubles point with two match-deciding tiebreakers at the first and second courts. In singles, BU took Court Two with a win for Tadeas Paroulek and nearly had points for the green and gold at Nos. 3 and 6 in matches abandoned with the clinch.

THE RUNDOWN
Before a 15-minute pause for rain, doubles play began in College Station with Blake Kasday and Nikhil Niranjan defeating Louis Bowden and Christopher Frantzen, 6-1, in just the second dual doubles match the two Bears have played together.

Returning from the brief intermission, Court One's Paroulek and Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Court Two's Devin Badenhorst and Zsombor Velcz forced tiebreaks against the Toreros, but USD found victory at the second court as Stain Klaassen and Oliver Tarvet stole the 7-4 breaker score from Badenhorst and Velcz to decide the point.

At the conclusion of doubles, rain and wet court conditions halted the match for just over four hours.

Coming back in singles, Badenhorst at No. 3 and Paroulek at No. 2 secured the Bears' first-set victories of the match. Badenhorst rolled to a 6-3 win in the frame, while Paroulek's set was decided in a tiebreak, 7-5.

Scoring first in singles, Klaassen beat Luc Koenig at the fifth court, 6-3, 6-1, but the Bears responded with unbelievable fight, as 86^th-ranked Paroulek battled back from a slow start to beat 85^th-ranked Iiro Vasa, 7-6(5), 6-3.

Savriyan Danilov scored San Diego's first of two unanswered points that decided the match over Bowden. After being pushed to a tie, the USD fourth-court player took the first set in a 7-1 breaker and then marched to a 6-3 second-set win.

In a back-and-forth match that eventually favored San Diego, 81^st-ranked Velcz nearly fought off No. 8 Tarvet before he secured the victory for the Toreros, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

At match point, No. 122 Badenhorst nearly completed his match against Lambert Ruland, but ended up abandoning in the third frame, 6-3, 6-7(5), 5-3. Brostrom Poulsen was also nearing a win at Court Six, up 3-1 in the third set after splitting the first two.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Michael Woodson
On today's match…
"(San Diego State) is a highly ranked team and a very confident team. They played together, they played hard. We knew we were going up against it. And in very difficult circumstances, I thought our guys just came together really well, battled, pushed and gave themselves an opportunity to get over the line, which was really fun to watch. I thought it was an excellent college tennis match that I know I'm going to remember for a long time, for a number of reasons. But I am really proud of the way that guys continued to right back and find ways to give us a chance to win."

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

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