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Baylor
No. 12 Men’s Tennis edged by No. 4 Baylor, 4-2, in Big 12 semifinals
04.23.2022 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns had several matches come down to third sets or tiebreakers, but came up short against the Bears.
Fort Worth – No. 12 Texas Men's Tennis was edged, 4-2, by 2 seed No. 4 Baylor in the Big 12 Championship semifinals on Saturday.
The Longhorns had several matches come down to third sets or tiebreakers, including the deciding match of the doubles point, which came down to a tiebreaker, along with three other singles tiebreakers that all went the Bears' way.
After Baylor won the doubles point, Texas won a pair of singles matches by sophomore Cleeve Harper at No. 6 and freshman No. 41 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2 to take a 2-1 overall lead.
Harper was first off the court, downing Juampi Mazzuchi, 6-3, 6-4. Harper used a 4-0 run in the first set to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead on his way to winning that frame. In the second, Mazzuchi pushed out to a 3-0 lead, but Harper responded with a 3-0 run of his own to tie it. Three games later, Harper took the lead at 5-4 and finished off the match in the next game.
Bailly was next, topping No. 43 Matias Soto, 7-5, 6-1. The first set was back and forth with Bailly winning the opening game followed by two for Soto and two back to Bailly, giving him a 3-2 lead. After Soto evened it at 3-3, Bailly grabbed two more games for a 5-3 advantage, and although Soto knotted it again at 5-5, Bailly began a 6-0 run to capture the set and establish a 4-0 lead in the second. Soto got one game back after that, but Bailly closed with two more for his win.
Despite being a straight-sets win for Baylor, no match was closer than the one at No. 4 where Finn Bass slipped by sophomore Siem Woldeab in two tiebreakers, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5). In the first set, Woldeab was the first to extend beyond a one game lead by taking a 5-3 advantage. However, Bass answered with the next two games and the players split the last two to the tiebreaker, which Bass won, 7-4. The second set was more of the same where Woldeab took an early 2-0 lead, but Bass responded to even it. It stayed tight from there to another tiebreaker where Bass again came out on top, 7-5, to even the overall match at 2-2.
The Bears then took the overall lead at No. 3 where senior No. 95 Richard Ciamarra was downed by No. 77 Sven Lah in a match that involved another decisive tiebreaker, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4. Ciamarra looked to be on his way to winning the first set after getting out to a 5-1 lead, but Lah put together a 4-0 run to tie it. Each player then won another game starting with Ciamarra to go to a tiebreaker where Lah came out on top, 7-2. In the second set, it was Ciamarra who would register a key 4-0 run, turning a 3-2 deficit into a win to go to a third set. That frame would feature more big runs with Ciamarra using a 3-0 streak to establish a 4-1 lead, but Lah then went 5-0 from there for the match.
The clinch for Baylor was another three-setter, as junior Chih Chi Huang was topped by No. 70 Tadeas Paroulek, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. In a tight first set, Huang held a 5-4 lead, but Paroulek went on a 3-0 run to take it. In the second, Huang grabbed a 2-1 lead that he extended to 3-1 and never looked back on his way to a 6-3 win. However, the third was controlled by Paroulek, who jumped out to a 4-1 lead that he turned into a 6-2 win.
In the remaining match at No. 1, sophomore No. 60 Eliot Spizzirri had split two sets with No. 3 Adrian Boitan. Spizzirri took the first by maintaining a 5-2 lead to a 6-4 win. He then also led the second, 5-4, but Boitan rallied for a 3-0 run to stay alive and send it to a third where he led, 4-3, when play stopped.
Earlier in doubles the No. 17 duo of Spizzirri and Woldeab were first off the court with a 6-3 win over the No. 15 pair of Soto and Mazzuchi at No. 2. The Longhorns picked up a key break at 4-2 and were able to maintain their lead to the finish.
Following that, the No. 3 duo of Ciamarra and Harper were downed by the No. 6 pair of Lah and Bass, 6-2, at No. 1. Baylor pushed out to a 3-1 lead, and after Texas pulled back within 3-2, the Bears finished on a 3-0 run.
That left it to the match at No. 3 that came down to a tiebreaker between the duo of Huang and sophomore Eshan Talluri against Boitan and Paroulek. After the Bears broke and held for a 4-2 advantage, the Longhorns responded with a 3-0 run to lead, 5-4, but the match stayed on serve from there to the tiebreaker. During that, Texas had match points leading 6-5 and 7-6, but Baylor closed on a 3-0 run from there to take the point.
Texas (16-10) will next await its selection to the NCAA Tournament during the selection show on Monday, May 2, at 5 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
#4 Baylor 4, #12 Texas 2
Singles – Order of Finish (6,2,4,3,5)
1. #3 Adrian Boitan (BU) vs. #60 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 4-6, 7-5, 4-3, unf.
2. #41 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. #43 Matias Soto (BU) 7-5, 6-1
3. #77 Sven Lah (BU) def. #95 Richard Ciamarra (UT) 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4
4. Finn Bass (BU) def. Siem Woldeab (UT) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)
5. #70 Tadeas Paroulek (BU) def. #114 Chih Chi Huang (UT) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2
6. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Juampi Mazzuchi (BU) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1,3)
1. #6 Sven Lah/Finn Bass (BU) def. #3 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-2
2. #17 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #15 Matias Soto/Juampi Mazzuchi (BU) 6-3
3. Adrian Boitan/Tadeas Paroulek (BU) def. Chih Chi Huang/Eshan Talluri (UT) 7-6 (7)
Players Mentioned
