WACO, March 2, 2019 (Press Release)

The No. 11 Fighting Illini men’s tennis team fell to the No. 7 Baylor Bears, 4-0, on Friday Night at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. Illinois still leads the overall series against the bears, 7-6.

“Give credit to Baylor. They stepped up at enough spots to beat us,” said head coach Brad Dancer. “We gave situations away in doubles because we lost our principles.”

Final:

1⃣Kovacevic: 7-5, 5-4, unfinished
2⃣Brown: 4-6, 3-6 ❌
3⃣Clark: 7-6, 3-1, unfinished
4⃣Mayo: 6-7, 3-6 ❌
5⃣Chakravarthi: 0-6, 1-6 ❌
6⃣Montsi: 4-6, 6-1, 3-3, unfinished

No. 11 #Illini 🔶🔷 0⃣ | No. 7 Baylor 4⃣ pic.twitter.com/Hr6deiIvG3

— Illinois M Tennis (@IlliniMTennis) 2. März 2019

Baylor secured the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions. Baylor picked up the first singles point with Adrian Botian defeating sophomore Caleb Chakravarthi, 6-0, 6-1. At the No. 2 position, Alex Brown battled through, but ultimately fell to Baylor’s Matias Soto, 6-4, 6-3. In the end, Sveh Lah clinched the Baylor sweep with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over freshman Keenan Mayo.

“In the singles matches we lost, we are not identifying with who we are,” noted Dancer. “We have another good challenge Sunday in Fort Worth.”

Up next, the Illini continue their Texas trip north to Fort Worth, Texas, facing the No. 12 TCU Horned Frogs on Sunday at Noon CT.