The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 5 Men's Tennis outlasts No. 9 Baylor, 4-3
04.10.2010 | Men's Tennis
April 10, 2010
WACO, Texas -- With the match locked at three points apiece, UT freshman Vasko Mladenov withstood a rally from Baylor's Julian Bley and nailed down a three-set win to clinch a 4-3 Texas victory over No. 9 Baylor (16-5, 0-2 Big 12) Saturday evening at the Baylor Tennis Center. It marks the fifth-ranked Longhorns' (21-2, 4-0 Big 12) third consecutive victory over the Bears in Waco, as the road team has taken the last five meetings between the two teams. Texas' win snaps Baylor's 19-match home winning streak, which dated back to March 2009. It is the Longhorns' fifth win over an ITA top-15 opponent this season.
Texas opened the match by taking the doubles point for the fourth time in as many conference matches. UT's 18th-ranked tandem of juniors Ed Corrie and Kellen Damico led off with an 8-4 win at the second slot over Baylor's 78th-ranked duo of Attila Bucko and Julian Bley. The Horns secured the doubles point at the third slot, where freshman Daniel Whitehead and sophomore Jean Andersen handed Jordan Rux and Dominik Mueller an 8-5 defeat. Baylor's Denes Lukacs and Roberto Maytin prevailed in a tiebreak at the first slot over UT's Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala.
Texas pushed its lead to 2-0 when Damico dispatched Baylor's Bucko at third singles, 6-1, 6-3. The Longhorns assumed a 3-0 lead after UT's Corrie won in equally dominant fashion, as he posted his fourth win over an ITA top-50 opponent 6-2, 6-3 victory over Baylor's Rux at second singles.
The Bears mounted a rally that began at fourth singles, as Maytin outlasted UT's Andersen, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. At fifth singles, down a set and 4-1 to Baylor's Dominik Mueller, Texas' Zavala rallied to even the second set at four games apiece. The set progressed to a tiebreaker, where Mueller prevailed to cut the Texas led to 3-2.
The match at first singles pitted UT's 10th-ranked Kutrovsky against Baylor's 19th-ranked Lukacs. Lukacs took the first set, 6-2 before Kutrovsky claimed the second, 6-3. Kutrovsky held a 5-4 third-set lead, but Lukacs took the final three games to claim the match and even the score at three apiece.
UT's Mladenov had dropped his first set to Baylor's Bley at sixth singles, 6-3 before rallying to take the second, 6-2. Mladenov broke Bley's service early on in set three and went on to assume a 5-2 lead. Bley broke Mladenov to cut the lead to 5-3 and held serve to pull within 5-4. But, Mladenov served out the final game at love and took the final set, 6-4 to preserve the Horns' 4-3 victory over the Bears.
Texas hosts Texas A&M in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown on Saturday, April 17 at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center. First serve is set for 4 p.m. Central with Senior Day festivities to be held prior to the match.
No. 5 Texas 4, No. 9 Baylor 3
Doubles - Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
1 Denes Lukacs/Roberto Maytin (BU) def. #6 Kutrovsky/Zavala (UT) vs.- 9-8 (4)
2 #18 Corrie/Damico (UT) def. #78 Attila Bucko/Julian Bley (BU) - 8-4
3 #56 Andersen/Whitehead (UT) def. Jordan Rux/Dominik Mueller (BU) - 8-5
Singles - Order of Finish: 3, 2, 4, 5, 1, 6
1 #19 Denes Lukacs (BU) def. #10 Dimitar Kutrovsky (UT) - 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
2 #18 Ed Corrie (UT) def. #32 Jordan Rux (BU) - 6-2, 6-3
3 #82 Kellen Damico (UT) def. #109 Attila Bucko (BU) - 6-1, 6-3
4 Roberto Maytin (BU) def. Jean Andersen (UT) - 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
5 Dominik Mueller (BU) def. #81 Josh Zavala (UT) - 6-4, 7-6 (2)
6 Vasko Mladenov (UT) def. Julian Bley (BU) - 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
On the win: This was an unbelievable college tennis match. We knew we were going to get Baylor's best shot at home and that they were going to fight, claw and scratch. So, we had to be ready. We did a good job in doubles and got on top of them, and that was a critical point tonight. In singles, it was a back-and-forth battle. Ed Corrie and Kellen Damico were outstanding tonight and got off their courts quickly. But, I knew that it would be a challenge to get that fourth point. Our guys all competed well and hung in there. We had four opportunities to get that one last point that we needed. It was just such a great team effort.
On Vasko Mladenov clinching the match at No. 6 singles: I tip my hat to Vasko Mladenov for finishing off that match. What a fabulous job he did tonight. His toughness was tremendous. He was serving 5-2, but then he got broken and Dimitar Kutrovsky lost (at #1 singles), and so then everyone shifted over to his court to watch the last match. We talk about preparing to be the last guy on the court with everyone chanting and cheering. He went out there and executed his game plan. He was aggressive, and I believe he finished all four of his points at the net. That's how you want to draw it up. It was a great effort by Vasko.
On the challenge of winning on Baylor's home courts: I don't know what their record is here, but they have probably won 95 percent of their matches here. It's one of the toughest venues at which to win. It's a significant home-court advantage, so for us to come over and win is remarkable. It's like any other sport: winning on the road isn't easy.
