DALLAS, Texas – Baylor men's tennis secured its first road win of the season, defeating SMU at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex on Sunday afternoon 4-2.
The Bears' (3-2, 0-0) win marked the 26
th consecutive win over the Mustangs (5-2, 0-0), as SMU has not secured a win over Baylor since 2001.
THE RUNDOWN
Doubles started out quick as head coach
Michael Woodson stuck to his same lineup as the last match on Friday against TCU. The South African doubles duo of
Devin Badenhorst and
Luc Koenig went up quick 4-1 as
Louis Bowden and
Alexandru Chirita took a 3-1 lead. Bowden and Chirita made Court Three all Baylor as they claimed a 6-2 dominant win. A Badenhorst ace on Court Two sealed the doubles point to put Baylor on the board early.
Moving to singles, the lineup remained the same across the courts. Badenhorst made his presence known on Court One, matching up against SMU's 48
th ranked Trevor Svajda. Badenhorst dominated the first set, 6-0, holding nothing back against the Mustang. In the second, Badenhorst used quick work to set the standard and earn Baylor's second point 6-0, 6-3.
On Court Two,
Oskar Brostrom Poulsen took an early lead 4-1 in the first set. SMU's Eric Hadigian attempted to make a comeback, but Brostrom Poulsen held his own taking the first 6-3. The senior captain didn't let up going into the second, claiming a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win.
Baylor with the 3-0 lead now looked to Court Five where Chirita was competing. The grad-transfer secured the first set 6-3 over SMU's Jerry Barton but fell flat in momentum in the second set going down 4-1. However, Chirita didn't let up and battled back 6-6 to force a set tiebreaker. The Romanian came back to secure the win for the Bears 6-3, 7-6(5).
Moments before Chirita's match clinched the victory for the Bears, Koenig fell to SMU's Ofek Shimanov 6-4, 7-6 on Court Three while Bowden was unlucky against Louis Cloud 6-3, 7-5 to give SMU its two points.
Marko Miladinovic's match was left unfinished on Court Six 6-3, 3-5.
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor now prepares to host three matches on the upcoming weekend at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center with San Diego on Friday night at 6 p.m. and then a double-header on Sunday against New Mexico and Rice.
