Friday, February 13
Waco, Texas
3:30 pm
Baylor
4
vs
0
(4) UCF
No. 19 MT Dominates No. 9 UCF in the First Round of the ITA Indoor National Championship, 4-0
2/13/2026 7:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Bears secured their spot in the quarterfinals by sweeping the Knights
WACO, Texas – No. 19 Baylor men's tennis swept No. 9 UCF in the first round of the ITA National Championship on February 13th on Friday afternoon, advancing to the quarterfinals held at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center, 4-0.
The fifth-seeded Bears (6-2) dominated another top-10 team, making this the first time since 2021 they've beaten two top-10 teams in consecutive matches after taking down No. 8 Texas A&M earlier this week at home. The last time the Bears swept a top-10 team was in 2024 against No. 5 USC.
THE RUNDOWN
The Bears' went with a different lineup than usual in doubles and wasted no time taking the first point from fourth-seeded UCF (8-1) with Alexandru Chirita and Zsombor Velcz finishing with a dominating 6-1 score. Blake Anderson and Devin Badenhorst followed quickly, 6-3, to get BU on the board.
Baylor singles were no different. The Bears won five out of six first sets across the courts, staying ahead of the Knights. Devin Badenhorst crushed his opponent in a decisive 6-4, 6-2 victory to earn a second point for the Bears.
He was followed closely by Louis Bowden on Court Six who controlled with 6-4, 6-1 final score. Finally, Luc Koeing won Baylor its fourth point with a hard-fought second tie-break 6-4, 7-6(3) win.
UP NEXT
Baylor will play in the quarterfinals of the ITA Indoor Championship at 3:30 pm CT on Saturday, Feb. 14th.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH MICHAEL WOODSON
On today's match…
"My biggest focus going into today was just to do a better job with the doubles. We've been talking about it a lot. We decided to make an adjustment; to be honest, we didn't have a lot of time to practice it. Just because of the short turnaround from Texas A&M and we've been kind of rehabbing Devin [Badenhorst] with his ankle to make sure that he was ready. So, he didn't play very much doubles or very much at all going into today. We felt good about Luc [Koenig] and Connor [Van Schalkwyk]. They played a little bit before. They have good chemistry. Obviously, I didn't want to compromise what Zsombor [Velcz] and Alex [Chirita] are doing. They are doing a great job and were just kind of hoping for the best at Three.
"We're relying on Devin's level and Blake [Anderson's] energy and I thought we'd delivered today. We did a really nice job of communicating, coming out with good, good posture, good presence, poise, you know, and kind of stuck it to them, which was great to see.
"And when we do that, sometimes you can take your foot off the gas, going into singles and that's a real opportunity for your opponent to reset. Like we did to A&M on Monday. And I was really pleased with how we started our singles. We got up on a few courts. Yes, we got down. We didn't get too far down. Just a game or two on every court. And then to go and run off five out of six first sets was impressive. And then to stretch leads on a couple of courts, make it way easier for guys like Connor and Luc, who are getting into kind of tiebreak territory in their second set. So, I thought it was a better performance than we had against A&M and that's pretty hard to do, so I'm pleased."
On first time since 2021 beating two top-10 teams consecutively…
"That's a good stat. I didn't know that. It feels really good. I think these guys look and feel confident. And that they believe not just in themselves, but that they believe in each other. And it feels like a really complete team. And I know they have big goals and they've been working really hard and I think a couple of the losses that we've had earlier in the year have been really good for us. I hope we can build on this and continue to try to raise the standard that we have right now."
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Connor Van Schalkwyk and Luc Koenig (BU) vs Colin Paul and Dlimi Yassine (UCF), 4-4 (15-40), unfinished
2. Zsombor Velcz and Alexandru Chirita (BU) def. Mehdi Benchakroun and Wissam Adberrahman (UCF), 6-1
3. Blake Anderson and Devin Badenhorst (BU) def. Luca Hotze and Nicolas Oliveira (UCF), 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
1. Devin Badenhorst (BU) def. Yassine Dlimi (UCF), 6-4, 6-2
2. Zsombor Velcz (BU) vs Wissam Abderrahman (UCF), 7-5, 3-3, unfinished
3. Connor Van Schalkwyk (BU) vs Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF), 6-3, 5-6, unfinished
4. Alexandru Chirita (BU) vs Pedro Rodrigues (UCF), 5-7, 6-2, 0-0, unfinished
5. Luc Koenig (BU) def. Paul Colin (UCF), 6-4, 7-6(3)
6. Louis Bowden (BU) def. Clement Lemire (UCF), 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 6, 5
- BaylorBears.com -
The fifth-seeded Bears (6-2) dominated another top-10 team, making this the first time since 2021 they've beaten two top-10 teams in consecutive matches after taking down No. 8 Texas A&M earlier this week at home. The last time the Bears swept a top-10 team was in 2024 against No. 5 USC.
THE RUNDOWN
The Bears' went with a different lineup than usual in doubles and wasted no time taking the first point from fourth-seeded UCF (8-1) with Alexandru Chirita and Zsombor Velcz finishing with a dominating 6-1 score. Blake Anderson and Devin Badenhorst followed quickly, 6-3, to get BU on the board.
Baylor singles were no different. The Bears won five out of six first sets across the courts, staying ahead of the Knights. Devin Badenhorst crushed his opponent in a decisive 6-4, 6-2 victory to earn a second point for the Bears.
He was followed closely by Louis Bowden on Court Six who controlled with 6-4, 6-1 final score. Finally, Luc Koeing won Baylor its fourth point with a hard-fought second tie-break 6-4, 7-6(3) win.
UP NEXT
Baylor will play in the quarterfinals of the ITA Indoor Championship at 3:30 pm CT on Saturday, Feb. 14th.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH MICHAEL WOODSON
On today's match…
"My biggest focus going into today was just to do a better job with the doubles. We've been talking about it a lot. We decided to make an adjustment; to be honest, we didn't have a lot of time to practice it. Just because of the short turnaround from Texas A&M and we've been kind of rehabbing Devin [Badenhorst] with his ankle to make sure that he was ready. So, he didn't play very much doubles or very much at all going into today. We felt good about Luc [Koenig] and Connor [Van Schalkwyk]. They played a little bit before. They have good chemistry. Obviously, I didn't want to compromise what Zsombor [Velcz] and Alex [Chirita] are doing. They are doing a great job and were just kind of hoping for the best at Three.
"We're relying on Devin's level and Blake [Anderson's] energy and I thought we'd delivered today. We did a really nice job of communicating, coming out with good, good posture, good presence, poise, you know, and kind of stuck it to them, which was great to see.
"And when we do that, sometimes you can take your foot off the gas, going into singles and that's a real opportunity for your opponent to reset. Like we did to A&M on Monday. And I was really pleased with how we started our singles. We got up on a few courts. Yes, we got down. We didn't get too far down. Just a game or two on every court. And then to go and run off five out of six first sets was impressive. And then to stretch leads on a couple of courts, make it way easier for guys like Connor and Luc, who are getting into kind of tiebreak territory in their second set. So, I thought it was a better performance than we had against A&M and that's pretty hard to do, so I'm pleased."
On first time since 2021 beating two top-10 teams consecutively…
"That's a good stat. I didn't know that. It feels really good. I think these guys look and feel confident. And that they believe not just in themselves, but that they believe in each other. And it feels like a really complete team. And I know they have big goals and they've been working really hard and I think a couple of the losses that we've had earlier in the year have been really good for us. I hope we can build on this and continue to try to raise the standard that we have right now."
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Connor Van Schalkwyk and Luc Koenig (BU) vs Colin Paul and Dlimi Yassine (UCF), 4-4 (15-40), unfinished
2. Zsombor Velcz and Alexandru Chirita (BU) def. Mehdi Benchakroun and Wissam Adberrahman (UCF), 6-1
3. Blake Anderson and Devin Badenhorst (BU) def. Luca Hotze and Nicolas Oliveira (UCF), 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
1. Devin Badenhorst (BU) def. Yassine Dlimi (UCF), 6-4, 6-2
2. Zsombor Velcz (BU) vs Wissam Abderrahman (UCF), 7-5, 3-3, unfinished
3. Connor Van Schalkwyk (BU) vs Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF), 6-3, 5-6, unfinished
4. Alexandru Chirita (BU) vs Pedro Rodrigues (UCF), 5-7, 6-2, 0-0, unfinished
5. Luc Koenig (BU) def. Paul Colin (UCF), 6-4, 7-6(3)
6. Louis Bowden (BU) def. Clement Lemire (UCF), 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 6, 5
- BaylorBears.com -
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3
#1 Singles Match
12
66
Yassine Dlimi / 0 (64/-) [UCF]
42
#2 Singles Match
123
73UF
Wissam Abderrahman / 0 (108/-) [UCF]
53UF
#3 Singles Match
123
65UF
Mehdi Benchakroun / 0 [UCF]
36UF
#4 Singles Match
123
56UF
Pedro Rodrigues / 0 [UCF]
72UF
#5 Singles Match
12
67
Paul Colin / 0 [UCF]
46
#6 Singles Match
12
66
Clement Lemire / 0 [UCF]
41
Order of Finish:
1,6,5
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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