College Tennis News - Bears Pick Up Three Singles Wins At Sherwood

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - A trio of Baylor men's tennis sophomores all posted a singles victory on the second day of the Sherwood Collegiate Cup at the Sherwood Country Club on Saturday.

"We made some good improvements today, in terms of the way we competed, managed ourselves and how we handled situations," head coach Matt Knoll said. "We looked more polished and put together. It is what you'd expect after getting some matches under our belt. I think that tomorrow will be even better."

The biggest win of the day came from 50th-ranked Marko Krickovic in back draw play. The Ismaning, Germany-native, upset 39th-ranked John Morrissey of Stanford in a three-set thriller, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 16-14. Krickovic survived numerous match points to take the contest.

"It was an unbelievable match," Knoll said. "It was certainly a great win. That guy is ranked ahead of him and is going to play No. 1 for Stanford, so it was a signature win for Marko."

In the consolation draw, No. 60 Mate Zsiga picked up his second straight win, downing Ryoto Tachni of UCLA, 6-1, 6-3. Tony Lupieri was also victorious in his consolation match with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Stanford's Matt Kandath.

Robert Verzaal faltered in his second-round consolation match, losing to Robert Stineman of Stanford, 6-3, 3-6, 10-1.

Both of Baylor's doubles duos were beaten twice on Saturday. Lupieri and Kirckovic lost to Alex Brigham and Dennis Mkrtchian of UCLA, 8-7(5), in the opening round of play. The BU tandem then dropped its consolation match to Stanford's Maciek Romanowicz and Stineman, 8-7(5).

Zsiga and Diego Galeano came up short vs. Michael Grant and Johnny Wang of USC, 8-6, to start the day, before losing to Stanford's Daniel Ho and Denis Lin, 8-6, in consolation play.

"We're not very good in doubles honestly," Knoll said. "I thought that we competed and communicated well. We fought hard, but we didn't execute well. Some of the teams that we played were a little ahead of us in terms of positioning and decision-making."

The Bears will continue play at the event on Sunday with matches to be determined.

BaylorBears.com will have a full recap and complete results of the action at the end of each day of competition in California. Follow @BaylorMTennis on Twitter for results and updated information.