Men’s Tennis Central: #6 Tennessee vs. #3 Baylor

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – For a second consecutive season and 11th time in the program's history, the No. 6 Tennessee men's tennis team is geared up for the NCAA national quarterfinals, beginning Thursday at 4 p.m. ET as it faces third-ranked Baylor at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Center.

The Vols have now reached the national quarterfinals for a second consecutive year. Prior to its current streak, Tennessee last reached the Round of 8 in back-to-back years in 2010 and 2011.

Tickets for the 2022 Championship can be purchased here.

A complete Championship Central page can be accessed here and live stats will be available here. All video streams for the event will be carried on the TennisONE App and can also be viewed here. TennisONE will produce a broadcast with announcers for the semifinal and final rounds of team, singles and doubles competition. All other matches will consist of each court's scoreboard video feed.

LAST TIME OUT
Tennessee trounced No. 28 Florida State, 4-0 in the NCAA Knoxville Super Regional to advance to Champaign.

SCOUTING BAYLOR
Thursday marks the 11th meeting between the Vols and Bears in the all-time series, which dates to 1984. It also serves as the third matchup between the schools since last season. The Vols are 7-3 against Baylor in those 10 matches.

Tennessee (25-7) handed the Bears its first of three losses this season, doing so in 4-2 fashion on Feb. 20 in Seattle at the ITA Indoor National Championship semifinals. Baylor's (29-3) other two losses came on March 20 to Michigan, 0-4 on the road and at home on April 3, 3-4 to TCU. In the NCAA Tournament, Baylor has defeated Abilene Christian, 4-0, No. 25 Texas A&M, 4-2 and No. 18 Stanford, 4-3 in the Super Regional round.

SERIES HISTORY
1984: Tennessee 9, Baylor 0
1999: Tennessee 4, Baylor 3
2000: Tennessee 6, Baylor 2
2008: Tennessee 1, Baylor 4
2009: Tennessee 4, Baylor 3
2010: Tennessee 4, Baylor 0
2011: Tennessee 3, Baylor 4
2012: Tennessee 4, Baylor 3
2021: Tennessee 2, Baylor 4
2022: Tennessee 4, Baylor 2

VOLS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#3 – Adam Walton
#10 – Johannus Monday
#74 – Emile Hudd

Doubles
#13 - Pat Harper/Adam Walton
#21 – Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui

BEARS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#5 – Adrian Boitan
#36 – Matias Soto
#58 – Tadeas Paroulek
#73 – Sven Lah

Doubles
#3 – Jake Finn Bass/Sven Lah
#9 – Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi/Matias Soto

SO WE MEET AGAIN
For a second consecutive NCAA postseason, the Vols and Bears will square off in a showdown that sends the winner to the national semifinals, to be played Saturday.

RANKED JOMO
Tennessee sophomore standout Johannus Monday has been ranked inside the top 12 of the ITA singles rankings all season, including fall action. As of May 4, Monday is ranked No. 10 in the national ranks.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
This dual season, the Vols hold a 17-0 record when winning at the No. 3 singles spot this dual season. Emile Hudd has manned that position for much of the spring, posting at 12-4 mark there in dual matches. The Vols have also seen great success when winning at No. 2 doubles, a spot Hudd has also manned with Mitsui, going 17-2 when winning at this spot.

SEC ANNUAL AWARDS
Tennessee had four individuals earn postseason recognition from the Southeastern Conference head coaches. Graduate student Walton earned first-team All-SEC acclaim for the third time in his Tennessee career, having also done so in 2019 and 2021. Monday, a sophomore, was named a first-team All-SEC member for the second time in as many seasons, while senior Emile Hudd garnered second-team All-SEC honors in his first season with the Vols. Freshman Shunsuke Mitsui joined Hudd as a second-team All-SEC selection and became the ninth Vol in program history to make the SEC All-Freshman Team. It marks Tennessee's second year in a row placing a Vol on the All-Freshman Team, with Monday doing so in 2021. Tennessee's four recipients of SEC first and second team honors mark the program's most in a single season since also having four in 2011.

QUICK HITTERS
• The Vols own 10 top-25 triumphs this dual season, including three top-10 victories and a 7-1 mark against teams ranked No. 11-25
• Tennessee has won the doubles point 22 times this season, holding a 20-2 record when taking this 1-0 advantage.
• The Vols reached the championship match at the ITA Indoor National Championships in Seattle earlier this dual season, logging a 3-1 record in the Emerald City.
• In a March 25 road comeback victory over then-25th-ranked Texas A&M, UT head coach Chris Woodruff became the fifth UT men's tennis coach to reach 100 career coaching victories with the program. Along with this, he became the second-fastest of those five to reach the century mark, doing so in 128 matches.

UP NEXT
With a win Thursday, Tennessee would advance to the NCAA semifinals, which would take place Saturday in Champaign, Illinois.

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Players Mentioned

Pat Harper

Emile Hudd

Shunsuke Mitsui

Johannus Monday

Adam Walton

University of Tennessee Athletics