WACO, TX — Baylor men's tennis had six players collect eight Big 12 postseason honors, announced by the conference office Wednesday afternoon.
Adrian Boitan was unanimously named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year while senior Johannes Schretter and sophomore Matias Soto earned All-Big 12 Singles First Team recognition.
Boitan joined senior Will Little on the All-Big 12 Singles Second Team, and senior Jimmy Bendeck and sophomore Sven Lah were unanimous picks for the All-Big 12 Doubles First Team.
Additionally, two Bears were crowned individual champions in Boitan (No. 3 singles) and Little (No. 4 singles). They are the seventh and eighth Bears to earn these honors, respectively.
Baylor has had at least one selection to the All-Big 12 Singles Team in every year of the conference’s existence, making it 23 straight seasons with Schretter, Soto, Boitan and Little’s selections. BU also has at least two singles selections for the 18th consecutive year. The Bears have had a doubles team earn conference recognition in 20 of 23 seasons in the Big 12.
Joining the team in January, Boitan is 13-4 in singles action and 6-3 in doubles play in his first season. The Constanta, Romania, native is a perfect 5-0 against ranked opponents and went 3-2 during the Big 12 regular season. The freshman also went 2-0 at the Big 12 Championship and clinched the final point in BU’s ninth postseason title on April 21.
Boitan is the ninth Bear to be named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and first since 2013.
Earning his second-straight Big 12 honor, Schretter is currently ranked No. 25 nationally and owns a 14-10 singles record on the year. He is 9-7 in dual-match action and has a team-best nine wins against ranked foes, while playing at the top two spots for the Bears.
Currently a career-high No. 29 in the rankings, Soto earns his first postseason award with a 21-7 singles record this season and an 8-3 record against ranked opponents. Owning a 12-1 record at No. 2, he went 3-2 in Big 12 action and 1-0 at the Big 12 Championship.
Little was recognized for the third-straight season. He is currently ranked No. 72 in the country with a 22-6 overall record and a 14-3 mark in dual-match singles action. He went a perfect 5-0 in the Big 12 regular season at the No. 4 singles spot.
Bendeck earned his first career Big 12 honor while Lah was named to the doubles team for the second-straight season. The top-ranked tandem is 24-5 overall and 13-4 in dual matches, including a 12-3 mark against ranked foes.
The Bears will host the NCAA First and Second Rounds and welcome Utah, Michigan and Dartmouth on May 3-4. Michigan and Dartmouth begin NCAA action at 3 p.m. CT on Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center, followed by the sixth-seeded Bears and Utah at 6 p.m. CT. The two winning teams will meet in the NCAA Second Round at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
