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No. 7 Baylor Men's Tennis secures 4-0 home sweep over No. 11 Illinois

Posted at 5:06 PM, Mar 02, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-02 18:06:21-05

WACO — No. 7 Baylor men’s tennis (11-2) used a strongly contested doubles point to spark a 4-0 sweep over 11th-ranked Illinois (3-4) Friday night at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.

Baylor improved to 23-1 in its last 24 home matches and is 7-0 this season in Waco. The win also snapped a two-match losing streak to the Illini, improving the all-time record to 6-6.

BU fell down early on all three doubles courts and played its way back into the match. First, Will Little and Matias Soto took a 6-3 victory over Keenan Mayo and Aleks Kovacevic at the No. 2 spot.

Then, Adrian Boitan and Constantin Frantzen climbed out of a 4-2 deficit to take the match, 7-5, over Vuk Budic and Gui Gomes on court three to seal the doubles point.

Up 1-0, the Bears used four first sets to keep the momentum. First, Boitan breezed past Caleb Chakravarthi and won 6-0, 6-1, on court five. Then, Matias Soto knocked off his highest ranked opponent of his career, upsetting No. 28 Alex Brown in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, on court two.

No. 117 Sven Lah clinched the match for the Bears when he took down Keenan Mayo, 7-6(4), 6-3, on court four.

To keep up with things all season long, follow the team on social media: @BaylorMTennis.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor improved to 6-6 all-time against Illinois and snapped a two-match losing skid to the Illini.
• Baylor swept its fifth opponent of the season and first ranked foe.
• Baylor is now 23-1 in its last 24 home matches dating back to 2017.
• Baylor is now 5-2 against ranked opponents this season, including 3-2 against top-15 teams.
• Baylor is now 10-3 in the doubles point and 10-0 when winning the opening point this season.
• Baylor improves to 7-0 in the doubles point at home.
• Baylor is now 38-2 in doubles and singles points at home, including three straight shutouts.
• Matias Soto beat his highest ranked opponent in his career, taking down No. 28 Alex Brown in straight sets.
• No. 117 Sven Lah improved to 11-1 in singles action.
• Adrian Boitan and Constantin Frantzen won their first doubles match together and clinched the point on court three.

STAT OF THE MATCH
1 – the amount of games freshman Adrian Boitan lost in singles play.

TOP QUOTE
Head coach Brian Boland
On the win…
“First of all, the crowd was incredible. They brought an energy to the match that you can’t duplicate. Our guys really fed off of that and performed very well in the pressure moments. Any time you can collect a win against a Big Ten powerhouse like Illinois, you feel great. They pushed us to the brink. The final score did not reflect how hard we had to work to win. We are happy with the win but need to quickly focus on another home match against a solid Purdue squad tomorrow.”

WHAT’S NEXT
11th-ranked Baylor stays home to host Purdue (4-4) Saturday night at 6 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center. In case of inclement weather, the match will be played at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. Free Baylor yo-yo’s will be given away to fans while supplies last.