Baylor University Team Page
WACO, Texas -The sixth-ranked Baylor men's tennis team (25-5) defeated No. 43 Tulsa, 4-1, Sunday at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship Round of 16 for a 13th-consecutive season.
The match was originally scheduled to be played outdoors, but high winds forced the Bears inside.
Baylor again claimed the doubles point for the second straight day with wins on courts two and three. The pairing of Julian Lenz and Michel Dornbusch was first to finish, getting past Carlos Bautista and Daniel Santos, 8-2. BU clinched the point with an 8-6 victory by Diego Galeano and Tony Lupieri over Tulsa's Japie De Klerk and Alejandro Espejo on court two.
Baylor continued to roll in singles, jumping out to a 2-0 lead following a 6-0, 6-3 win by Dornbusch on court four. Tulsa would answer back with a 6-4, 6-3 Espejo win on court three over No. 31 Galeano to bring the score to 2-1.
After losing his first two games, Mate Zsiga fought back to win 11 of his last 16 games to record a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Dylan McCloskey on court five, to put the Bears a point away from clinching the match.
Almost as soon as Zsiga's match was decided, Lupieri closed out Carlos Bautista on court six 6-4, 6-2 to claim the match for the Bears.
The loss concludes Tulsa's season at 16-13.
Keep up with the Bears all season long by following @BaylorMTennis on Twitter.
STAT OF THE DAY
0 - The number of loses Baylor has suffered at home in NCAA Championship play.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Baylor will play in the NCAA round of 16 for the 15th time in program history.
- The Bears are now 47-15 all-time in NCAA play.
- BU is 22-0 at home in NCAA action.
- Baylor has now won 25 matches in 11 seasons under head coach Matt Knoll. BU last won 25 contests in 2009.
- Baylor remains perfect at 15-0 in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
- Baylor extends its match win streak to six and has now won 17 of its last 18 matches.
- Baylor improves to 7-2 all-time against the Golden Hurricane.
- Baylor defeated Tulsa for the second straight year in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
TOP QUOTE #1
"The theme of the day was to advance. Maybe as much as any match we have had everyone showed up. I thought we competed well at every spot. We got to four and were in position in the other two matches if we needed them, so I feel good about it." - head coach Matt Knoll on the match
TOP QUOTE #2
"Michel is a good tennis player. I think the longer he plays the better he is going to get. I think we are going to see him play better the longer the season goes. We had a lot of confidence by this time of the year, he would start to be something special and I think he is starting to be that."
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will face 12th-ranked Illinois (24-8) on Friday at 11 a.m. CT in the round of 16 of the NCAA Championships. All matches will be played in Athens, Ga. on the campus of University of Georgia.
