By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Making the NCAA doubles draw as freshmen and playing near the top of the singles lineup throughout their four-year careers, Nick Stachowiak and Spencer Furman certainly left their marks on the Duke tennis program.
But, when the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility after the COVID-shortened 2020 season, they both wanted more.
"My dream going into my freshman year of college was to go to Duke and play for that great team," said Stachowiak, who won a combined 164 singles and doubles matches with the Blue Devils. "I had a good four years there, but I didn't necessarily accomplish everything I think we could have accomplished. So, I was looking for a really good program that would compete for titles."
That's what Stachowiak and Furman both found at Baylor, not only competing for titles, but winning a share of the Big 12 regular-season title and then beating Texas, 4-0, to capture the Big 12 Championship on its home courts at the Hurd Tennis Center.
"It's been a blast, it really has," said Furman, who has won 11-consecutive singles matches going into Baylor's Round of 16 match against Ole Miss on Monday in Orlando, Fla.
"The coaches are a big part of that, they're so easy to talk to. I feel like I learn something every day from them. The other guys on the team, they're goofy, they're serious, but they're just fun to be around. And then, just the culture of the program. Everyone is trying to be excellent, which it's special to be a part of that."
At Duke, they were part of NCAA tournament teams in 2017 and '18, but didn't make it out of the first round. The Blue Devils lost to South Florida, 4-0, the first year and then got upset by a 38th-ranked Ole Miss team, 4-3, in 2018, with Stachowiak at No. 2 singles and fellow Duke grad transfer Ryan Dickerson beating current 16th-ranked Finn Reynolds at No. 6.
Now, Stachowiak and Furman are playing Nos. 4 and 6 singles, respectively, for a Baylor team with a legitimate shot at winning it all.
"We don't want to look too far ahead, take it one match at a time," said Stachowiak, a second-team All-Big 12 pick in singles and doubles this year, "but we know what this team is capable of doing. (Winning the national championship) is definitely the goal. That's why we put in the work on and off the court every day."
With a combined record of 21-4 at their respective singles positions, Stachowiak and Furman are "about as reliable as you can expect for somebody in a college tennis dual match with no-ad scoring and playing top-10, top-5 competition match-in and match-out," Baylor head coach Michael Woodson said.
Add in Dartmouth transfer Charlie Broom being 18-2 at No. 5, and "it's really given a lot of confidence" to the top of the lineup with Adrian Boitan, Matias Soto and Sven Lah, he said.
"They can look around and feel really good about what's going on with the other courts," Woodson said. "They can be like, 'Hey, I don't have to win today, because I know Spencer's got my back, Nick's got my back.' They're going to bring it and they're going to bring it at a high level every single day."
As soon as they arrived, Soto said, their attitude was that "we're here to win, we're going to make everybody better." Now, his responsibility to is "give them the best opportunity" in the NCAA tournament. "They deserve everything."
Considering that they both played No. 1 singles during their career at Duke, Stachowiak and Furman have also accepted and been able to thrive at the lower spots in the order. Furman was the Big 12 champion at the No. 6 spot, going 13-2 overall and 5-0 in league play.
"Honestly, I treat it the same," Furman said. "I have the mindset that it doesn't matter where you're playing, everyone is good. I have to take care of my own game just to be able to win. Whether it's 6 or 1, you have to play your best."
Stachowiak has had to remain flexible in doubles, playing at all three positions and shuffling between six different partners before settling in at the No. 2 spot with Soto. They are 12-1 overall and 9-1 at No. 2.
"That's definitely a journey I've been on since I got here in the fall," said Stachowiak, a native of Cary, N.C., who has also played with Furman, Boitan, Lah, Broom, Dickerson and Constantin Frantzen. "I think (Soto and I) are both similarly level-headed on the court . . . never get too high or too low. And if one of us isn't feeling well, we understand how the other one needs to be pushed and brought up, in that sense."
Furman quickly adds that Stachowiak and Soto are also both excellent at return of serve, which makes them tough to beat.
Although their collegiate careers will be done at the end of this season, Stachowiak and Furman both plan on staying at Baylor another year to finish their MBA programs.
Since he thought his college career might be over last year with the COVID shutdown, Stachowiak said he has just tried to "stay in the moment" and hasn't given much thought to his goals beyond Baylor.
Furman, a native of Seattle, Wash., who earned second-team All-ACC honors as a freshman at Duke, said his goal is "to be a head coach at a college program at a school like Baylor and maybe play Woodson one day, hopefully."
Asked about possibly returning to Baylor as the head coach one day, he said, "I think Mike's going to be here for a while. I might have to go somewhere else. But, that's my goal, long term."
Seeded second overall in the NCAA tournament, Baylor (31-4) will face 15th-seeded Ole Miss (13-10) in the Round of 16 at 12 p.m. CDT Monday at the USTA National Campus in Orlando. Two years ago, in the last NCAA tournament, the Bears beat UCLA, 4-1, in a Super Regional in Waco before falling to third-seeded Florida, 4-0, in the quarterfinals.
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