Baylor University Team Page
WACO, Texas - Following its first loss of the season, the 18th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team got back in the win column by downing No. 69 Purdue, 6-1, at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center on Saturday.
The match was supposed to take place outdoors at the Hurd Tennis Center, but was moved indoors due to rain.
"Today was a wonderful day to thank Jim and Nell Hawkins again for making this indoor center possible," head coach Matt Knoll said. "We wouldn't have had a chance to play this match outside."
Baylor (3-1) got out to an early lead on Purdue (7-2) by claiming the doubles point for the fourth time this season. The duo of Roberto Maytin and Marko Krickovic was able to secure the first victory on court 2 with an 8-3 victory. Shortly thereafter Julian Lenz and Patrick Pradella won their match on court 3 by a score of 8-4.
"We don't practice (doubles) hardly at all," Knoll said. "We have thrown a few combinations together that have been pretty effective. We are certainty pleased, but we don't usually put much emphasis on the doubles until a little later in the season, so it is sort of a nice surprise right now."
Baylor was able to keep their momentum going as the singles matches got underway by winning the first set on all six courts. No. 50 Marko Krickovic was the first Baylor player to secure a singles point by beating Purdue's Krisztian Krocsko in the No. 4 spot with a score of 6-3, 6-1.
The next Baylor victory came in the No. 2 spot as No. 60 Mate Zsiga topped Szymon Tatarczyk 6-0, 6-1. Diego Galeano won the match clinching point at the No. 6 spot with a score of 6-1, 6-4. That win was followed by Patrick Pradella in the No. 3 spot, who got a three sets victory, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7).
Making his first appearance in the No. 1 spot, freshman Julian Lenz downed Mark Kovacs for Baylor's final point of the match.
Purdue claimed its sole point as Aaron Dujovne beat Roberto Maytin in the No. 5 spot,1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (12-10).
Baylor is now 3-0 all-time vs. Purdue as the Bears have knocked off the Boilermakers in three straight seasons.
The Bears next home match will be Saturday, Feb. 19, as they host UT Pan-American as part of a double header that will also include a match with UT Arlington.
"We just need matches at this point," said Knoll, "Julian played in his first dual match today and Bobby in his second. These guys are going to play better. They are going to be super stars for us down the stretch. We just need to get some miles underneath them, some matches underneath them. This weekend is going to be great in that respect, just to get two matches and to just get comfortable being out there."
Stay up to date with the team all season by following @BaylorMTennis on Twitter.