Baylor a tough challenge for tennis Vols

It was smooth sailing through two rounds. Now, the going gets tougher for Tennessee’s men in the NCAA tennis tournament.

The eighth-seed Vols (23-3) meet ninth-seed Baylor (24-8) Friday at 1 p.m. (ET) as the round of 16 opens in Tulsa, Okla.

Tennessee didn’t drop a single set in dispatching Furman and Virginia Tech by 4-0 scores last weekend at UT’s Varsity Courts.

Baylor might be a different story.

The Bears have won 14 of 15 matches after a 10-7 start. Their lineup boasts No. 8 Lars Poerschke and No. 9 Denes Lukacs at the top of the order and a freshman at No. 6 singles, Jordan Rux, who has won 15 consecutive matches.

Furthermore, Baylor is no stranger to the tournament. The Bears won it all in 2004 and have reached the semifinals four consecutive seasons.

Tennessee counters with a freshman-dominated lineup, led by J.P. Smith, the SEC freshman of the year, who plays No. 2 singles.

“I think we overcame regionals, which was the first step, and everybody’s going to be relaxed now,’’ Smith said. “Our game matches up with (Baylor), especially doubles.

“If we can play as well as we did (against Virginia Tech), we can do well in Tulsa.’’

UT’s second-year coach Sam Winterbotham was an assistant three years at Baylor on coach Matt Knoll’s staff from 2000-2002.

The winner of Friday’s match plays the winner of No. 1 seed Virginia vs. No. 16 seed Michigan on Sunday.

Fifteen of the 16 seeds made it through the first two rounds. The only one that didn’t was host Tulsa, losing to Oklahoma State.

Smith and senior Kaden Hensel have been invited to the singles and doubles tournament that follows the team event.