Baylor University Team Page
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The 20th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team picked up its fourth straight win on Thursday with a 6-1 victory over No. 62 North Florida at the UNF Tennis Complex.
The matched started with both teams trading off wins in doubles play. North Florida struck first with an 8-2 win on court one as Moritz Buerchner and Julien Belair took out Roberto Maytin and Marko Krickovic, 8-2. The Bears responded as Julian Lenz and Patrick Pradella cruised past Leonarod Nahar and Pedro Davisson, 8-4, on court 3.
That left the doubles point to be decided on court 2 where North Florida's Daniel Sotomarino and Norbert Nemcsek overcame an early deficit to defeat Mate Zsiga and Tony Lupieri, 8-6.
The loss was Baylor's first in the doubles point this season.
As the singles action got underway, Baylor quickly regained composure. The Bears were able to claim the first singles victory on court 5 where 56th-ranked Krickovic defeated Davisson, 6-2, 6-1.
Pradella was soon to follow with a win on court 2 over Sotomarino, 6-1, 6-0.
"I think Patrick has settled in," said head coach Matt Knoll. "I think he has been able to build up a comfort level and we know that he has a bright future. He is playing like Patrick Pradella and we are excited about what that is going to mean for us down the road."
Baylor sophomore Diego Galeano claimed another win on court 6 by a score of 6-4, 6-4 against Nahar, before No. 76 Zsiga clinched the match for BU vs. Nemcsek on court 4, 7-5, 6-3.
No. 59 Julian Lenz played in the No. 1 spot for the Bears and carded a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 96 Buerchner. The final point of the match came on court 3 where Baylor's Lupieri defeated Belair, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.
The next match for the Bears will be on Saturday when they face No. 16 Florida in Gainesville, Fla., at Linder Stadium.
"It is a great opportunity for us and we are excited about it," said Knoll. "It has been a while since we have had success against their team. They have really good players and really good coaches. We know it will be a challenge and we are up for it. It is going to be a great chance for us to see where we are."
The match with the Gators at noon will mark the second matchup with a top 25-team this season. The last meeting between the Bears and Gators resulted in a 6-1 win for Florida in Waco during the 2012 season.
Follow @BaylorMTennis for updates on the team all season.