MT Dominates No. 5 USC in Waco, 4-0

Monday, February 12

Waco, Texas

5:30 pm

Baylor

USC

Oskar Brostrom Poulsen celebrates win over USC 2024

MT Dominates No. 5 USC in Waco, 4-0

2/12/2024 8:35:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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Bears tab eighth top-5 win under Coach Woodson

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Baylor men's tennis coach Michael Woodson is confident the Bears have "probably three guys that can all play (No. 1) singles" in senior Tadeas Paroulek, sophomore Zsombor Velcz and freshman Devin Badenhorst.

Moving up to the No. 1 spot for the last two matches, Velcz beat 38^th-ranked fellow Hungarian Peter Makk, 6-3, 6-2, to clinch Baylor's 4-0 upset of a shorthanded, fifth-ranked USC team (4-2) Monday night at a packed Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.

"I can't remember a time where we jumped on a team that fast against literally anyone," said Woodson, who picked up his eighth top-5 and 16^th top-10 win in four seasons at Baylor, "and then sustained it all the way through. We never gave up a lead in the first or second set, ever, other than maybe 1-0. Just super impressed with our ability to focus throughout the match."

Badenhorst teamed with fellow South African Luc Koenig to clinch the doubles point with a 6-4 win over the Trojans' Karl Lee and Oscar Weightman at No. 2, then quickly put the Bears' next point on the board with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Volodymyr Iakubenko at No. 3.

"The guy that (Badenhorst) played today was one of the best freshmen coming into college in January in the country," Woodson said. "And it was never close, from the first point, first strike of the ball. You walk into the facility, and there's something different about him. It's not just his size, it's his athleticism, it's his confidence . . . and then, he has a serve that you're not going to see half the time he strikes it. His talent is undeniable."

Paroulek, Baylor's highest-ranked player at No. 29, followed suit with a 6-1, 6-2 win over 96^th-ranked Lodewijk Westrate at No. 2 singles. With Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Koenig both a game away from closing out their matches at Nos. 4 and 5 singles, respectively, Velcz beat them to the finish line with the highest-ranked win of his two-year career at Baylor.

Woodson said he made the switch at the top of the singles lineup, "specifically for a matchup," in Sunday's 7-0 win over Tulsa. But he also liked the "familiarity between the No. 1 player from USC (Makk) and Z (Velcz)."

"We thought, I like how well they know each other, and I think Z can really get on him from a matchup perspective. Teddy's a seasoned guy, he's the highest-ranked player, but I think we've got a couple other guys that can do it, and they're starting to show it. They both took care of business. I give them both a ton of credit. They both handled it out there against the two best guys on the team."

After losing to then-No. 13 Arizona, 4-2, and missing out on its 13^th-consecutive trip to the ITA National Indoor Championships, Baylor has scheduled a couple makeup matches for the upcoming weekend. The Bears (8-1) will face McMurry (1-2) and ACU (6-4) on Sunday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, at the Judi and Cecil Eager Tennis Pavilion in Abilene, Texas.

WACO, Texas – Baylor men's tennis dominated to a 4-0 sweep of fifth-ranked Southern California on Monday night in a packed Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. A season-high 392 fans watched as the Bears took their 16th top-10 and eighth top-5 win under head coach Michael Woodson in just his fourth year at the helm.

BU moves to 8-1 this season and stays perfect at 6-0 in Waco. The Trojans dropped their second-straight match, as they also lost to Oklahoma State, 6-1, on Saturday night in Stillwater.

THE RUNDOWN
Taking the seventh doubles point of the season, Baylor had the early 1-0 match lead from wins in the third and first doubles spots.

Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Christopher Frantzen picked up their third-straight win at Court Three with a quick 6-1 result over Volodymyr Iakubenko and Samuel Rubell. Coming right back, USC's Peter Makk and Lodewijk Weststrate clawed for a 6-4 win over Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz.

Clinching the point, Devin Badenhorst and Luc Koenig took down Karl Lee and Oscar Weightman, 6-4, for their sixth win together at BU.

In singles, the Bears jumped out early and never gave up a set lead on any court throughout the duration of play.

After Baylor swept first sets across all six courts, No. 107 Devin Badenhorst made quick work on Court Three, defeating Iakubenko, 6-1, 6-3. In a race for the finish, 29^th-ranked Paroulek was up next with another ranked singles win over No. 96 Westsrate, 6-1, 6-2.

Completing the 4-0 sweep, unranked Velcz secured the highest-ranked win of his two-year career, besting No. 38 Makk, 6-3, 6-2.

Stopped by the clinch but en route to a 7-0 sweep, both Brostrom Poulsen and Koenig were one game away from winning in straight sets. Freshman Louis Bowden was furthest away, but ran away with his first set at 6-1, before being tied 2-all in the second against Niroop Vallabhaneni.

HIGHLIGHTS

BU has its seventh 6-0 start at home in the last 10 seasons.
The Bears picked up their first top-5 win since defeating No. 1 TCU in Fort Worth on April 24, 2022.
Baylor won its seventh doubles point of 2024.
Freshman Devin Badenhorst moves solely into the No. 1 singles wins position with a perfect 7-0 record.
The South African doubles team of Devin Badenhorst and Luc Koenig lead the team in doubles wins at six and are on a streak of five-straight.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Michael Woodson
On the match…
"We knew we had to be ready, especially with the power they have at the top of the lineup. All those guys, even at the bottom, are great players. The fans came into the building excited against a No. 5 team, and we felt like maybe we were supposed to win. We're young, and we're really good, and are we going to do it in a big match with a massive crowd. We were a little nervous going into doubles. We did a really good job of slowing down and not rushing, playing good tennis and eventually we found some good stuff and got the point. I can't remember a time where we've jumped on a team that fast against anyone and then sustained it all the way through. We never gave up a lead in the first or second set, other than maybe 1-0. I am just super impressed with our ability to focus throughout the match on our courts. The guys were just locked in competing, and I have a ton of respect for that. I am just super proud of our guys. And shout out to the crowd. This place was packed. There were people piled on top of each other all the way down to Court 6. That makes a huge difference for our guys. I hope we made them proud tonight."

On the young team gaining maturity…
"A couple of these guys have never been in that position before. I feel like the aura around the team as we came out to warm up was interesting. We were more relaxed and confident. We're starting to develop a swagger about us that I like. As they got out on the court, they locked in on their position and they knew they were going to win their point. A couple spots here at the end were about to win and they didn't get the opportunity to do that. I was just super impressed. I think the mature, older guys are having an effect on the young guys, and they're following suit. The freshman and sophomores who really haven't had a win like this are looking like juniors and seniors, which is a really good place to be."

UP NEXT
The Bears head to Abilene to face McMurry and ACU on Sunday at the Judi and Cecil Eager Tennis Pavilion. First serves have been set for 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.

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