Baylor University Team Page
WACO, Texas -The No. 38 Baylor men's tennis team upset No. 5 Kentucky (14-3), 6-1, on Friday night at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center to improve to 10-1 on the season and extend its current win streak to eight matches.
"We just really wanted to come out and play with some energy and discipline today," head coach Matt Knoll said. "I felt like in some of our other matches we didn't really play the whole match. I felt that around the time Mate Zsigagot the third point, I felt the air go out of the match. I think the crowd thought the match was over and I think some of our guys thought the match was over, but you have got to get to four. I knew as good as Kentucky is and the experienced guys that they had out there that we had a lot of works still to do. I was glad our guys were able to reenergize and refocus and reach the finish line today."
The 53rd-ranked team of Patrick Pradella and Julian Lenz were first to finish in doubles action on court three. The duo disposed of Kentucky's Anthony Rossi and Grant Roberts, 8-4. Baylor's Diego Galeano and Marko Krickovicwere soon to follow with an identical 8-4 victory over Alejandro Gomez and Ryuji Hirooka, giving Baylor a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
The Bears never looked back once they took the doubles point. Tony Lupieri was the first Bear to claim a victory winning 6-2, 6-3, in the No. 3 spot. No. 78 Mate Zsigawas soon to follow with a 6-1, 6-3 win in the No. 4 spot giving Baylor a commanding 3-0 lead in the match.
On court two, Baylor's No. 43 Julian Lenzbattled his way through a second set tie break to top No. 18 Tom Jomby, 6-4, 7-5, and clinch a Baylor victory.
No. 77 Marko Krickovic followed with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-2 victory over Kentucky's Grant Roberts to extend the Bears lead to 5-0 before Kevin Lai topped Roberto Maytinto claim the Wildcats' only point of the match.
The contest concluded with a thrilling match on court one where Baylor's No. 122 Patrick Pradellafaced off against No. 21 Anthony Rossi. The BU freshman ended up winning in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (7-3).
The win also leaves the Bears undefeated at home and 4-0 when playing indoors. Baylor improves the overall series record against Kentucky to 9-0.
The Bears will be in action again on Sunday as they host No. 2 UCLA as part two of a three part home stand that features three top-five opponents.
To stay up to date with the team all season follow @BaylorMTennis on Twitter.
