Feb. 13, 2010
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| Singles | | | A. Childs |
| #1 | 6-3, 6-2 | Lukacs | | S. Childs | 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 | #2 |
| Rux | | Carter | DNF | #3 | DNF | Bucko | | Maksimcuk | 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 | #4 |
| Ramirez | | Calligari |
| #5 | 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 | Mueller | | Hall | 6-2, 7-5 | #6 |
| Maytin |
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| Doubles | | | S Childs/Maksimcuk | 8-5 | #1 | | Maytin/Rux | | Calligari/Hall |
| #2 | 9-7 | Horny/Lukacs | | A. Childs/Gabriel | 9-8(1) | #3 |
| Bley/Buc ko |
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|
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The second day of play at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship looked a lot like the first for the fifth-ranked men's tennis team as the Bears fell to 16th-ranked and 14th-seeded Louisville, 4-2, on Saturday at the Boar's Head Sports Club.
"It was not a very courageous performance by our team today," head coach Matt Knoll said. "We need more than one or two guys playing with poise and right now that is the problem. We have three guys in singles, who competed well and then three guys that didn't do a very good job."
On day one of the 16-team championship sixth-seeded Baylor fell by the same score to then 11th-ranked Florida.
For the second straight day the Bears lost the doubles point in tiebreaker fashion. The Cardinals claimed the first match in doubles as Simon Childs and Viktor Maksimcuk beat Roberto Maytin and Jordan Rux at No. 1 spot, 8-5. Baylor's No. 2 team of Denes Lukacs and Maros Horny responded by upsetting the 33rd-ranked tandem of Alejandro Calligari and Robert Hall, 9-7. The upset victory put the doubles point in the balance as Attila Bucko and Julian Bley battled back from a 7-5 deficit at the No. 3 spot to tie the match at eight with Austen Childs and Chidi Gabriel. However, the Louisville pairing would win the tiebreak 7-1 to take the match, 9-8.
"Our new team at one, Rux and Maytin, has struggled a little bit," Knoll said. "We lost a tiebreaker at three. Doubles is still fine, it is just we lost a couple of tiebreakers. If you win those two tiebreakers you feel you are doing great. It is just a couple points that keep us from being in a different neighborhood."
In singles, Denes Lukacs quickly knotted the match at one point apiece after dispatching of the 46th-ranked Austen Childs, 6-3, 6-2. The win gave Lukacs a 6-0 record during dual match play and raised his all-time singles career wins to 120, placing him into sole possession of second place on the Baylor career charts. The Eger, Hungary native now trails Benjamin Becker by 21 singles wins for first place on the list.
"Denes' focus level is up there, his confidence is up there," Knoll said. "He doesn't panic when things don't go his way. As a result of that he plays with a lot of poise and that gives you a chance to win."
From that point, the Cardinals reclaimed the lead with Hall beating Maytin at the sixth spot 6-2, 7-5. Louisville would only expand the lead as Maksimcuk took down Ramirez 2-6, 6-0, 6-2. Baylor's last win came as Dominik Mueller came back from an opening set 6-1 loss to take the final two sets 6-3, 6-1. Louisville claimed the match as the 84th-ranked Simon Childs beat the 11th-ranked Rux 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
"When you lose that close doubles, every point matters," Knoll said. "You can't have guys that don't hold it together. It puts too much pressure on the guys that our holding it together and it cost us again today."
Bucko was leading his match with the 81st-ranked Andrew Carter in the third set when the match was decided.
Before today's loss Baylor had not lost two matches in a row since losing three in a row versus USC, UCLA and Pepperdine on March 9-12, 2008.
The Bears fall to 5-2 on the season, while Louisville improves to 8-1. The Cardinals now hold a 1-0 lead in the all-time series as today was the first meeting between the two schools on the tennis court.
Baylor will now play its final match of the ITA Indoor Championship tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. versus the loser of the Mississippi and Alabama match. "We have to show more courage," Knoll said.
"We are a scared and tentative team right now and that is disheartening. We are going to have to play with more courage if we are going to have a chance to win tomorrow." For complete tournament results and schedule visit the tournament's home page.
