AUSTIN, Texas -- The 39th-ranked University of Texas men's tennis team was outscored by top-ranked Baylor, 6-1, at Penick-Allison Tennis Center on Wednesday evening. Sophomore Hubert Chodkiewicz (Corpus Christi, Texas) posted the lone singles victory in the loss. Texas is now 9-7 overall and 1-4 in Big 12 action, while Baylor improves to 23-0 overall and 5-0 in conference.
Baylor opened the match with wins at the top two spots in the doubles lineup. At No. 1, the 50th-ranked duo of junior Callum Beale (Adelaide, Australia) and freshman Travis Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan.) lost 8-5 to the 4th-ranked duo of Benedikt Dorsch and Matija Zgaga, while Chodkiewicz and junior Roger Gubser (Laredo, Texas) were defeated by the 53rd-ranked tandem of Michal Kokta and Lars Poerschke, 8-6, at No. 2.
Texas avoided the sweep with a victory at No. 3 doubles where the gritty play of freshman Luis Diaz Barriga (Cordoba, Mexico) and sophomore Garrett Snyder (Newport Beach, Calif.) forced Benjamin Becker and Jon Reckewey to a tiebreak before closing out the match, 9-8 (2). The Longhorn duo improved to 9-4 in duals and 3-2 in conference action.
First off the court in singles was Helgeson, who played at the top of the lineup for just the second time this season. The freshman fought hard but ultimately fell to Dorsch - the top-ranked player in the nation - in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. Barriga followed with a 6-4, 7-6 (6) loss to Zgaga at the fifth spot.
The Bears continued to dominate singles and opened up a 6-0 lead as they took three of the next four matches. Beale fell to 28th-ranked Becker 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 at the second slot and Gubser dropped a 7-5, 6-3 decision to Kokta at the fourth. Baylor scored its final point of the match at the third singles spot where freshman Milan Mihailovic (Nis, Serbia) lost in a super tiebreaker to No. 21-ranked Poerschke, 6-2, 6-7 (2), (10-8).
Texas' lone singles victory was recorded by Chodkiewicz, who needed three sets to defeat Vladimir Portnov, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, and post his ninth win of the season.
The Texas men return to action on Friday, April 15 when they host Rice at Penick-Allison Tennis Center. First serve is set for 5:30 p.m. Central.
Singles (Order of finish: 1, 5, 2, 4, 3, 6)
1. Benedikt Dorsch (BU) def. Travis Helgeson (UT) 6-3, 6-4
2. Benjamin Becker (BU) def. Callum Beale (UT) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. Lars Poerschke (BU) def. Milan Mihailovic (UT) 6-2, 6-7 (2), (10-8)
4. Michal Kokta (BU) def. Roger Gubser (UT) 7-5, 6-3 5. Matija Zgaga (BU) def. Luis Diaz Barriga (UT) 6-4, 7-6 (6)
6. Hubert Chodkiewicz (UT) def. Vladimir Portnov (BU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 2, 3)
1. Dorsch/Zgaga (BU) def. Beale/Helgeson (UT) 8-5
2. Kokta/Poerschke (BU) def. Chodkiewicz/Gubser (UT) 8-6
3. Barriga/Garrett Snyder (UT) def. Becker/Jon Reckewey (BU) 9-8 (2)
