Oct. 11, 2001

Stone Mountain, Georgia - If the performance of freshmen Benni Becker and Markus Hornung in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships is any indication, the future of the Baylor men's tennis program is bright. Both players won two matches in the men's singles main draw on Thursday and also combined to win their doubles match.

Becker, who had qualified for the main draw by virtue of his No. 99 preseason ranking, posted wins over No. 28 ranked Travis Parrott of Portland 6-0, 6-4 and Florida State's Xavier Luscan, ranked No. 81, 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Hornung is the only player still remaining from last weekend's 256-player prequalifying. He has won nine straight matches in seven days of competition. Hornung's first opponent of the day was Olivier Levant of Florida who was ranked No. 54. Hornung won in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. In the afternoon he posted his most impressive victory to date, a two-set win over No. 9 Maxim Belski of Alabama 7-5, 6-3. Belski was the tournament's No. 6 seed.

In first round doubles, Becker and Hornung posted a hard-fought victory over No. 10 ranked Phillip King and Mike Yani of Duke, 9-8 (0). King and Yani were the tournament's No. 8 seed.

"The doubles match was the end of a very long day," said Baylor head coach Matt Knoll. "We lost serve in the first game then regained our composure. When it came down to the tiebreaker, we just dominated them. The guys really competed hard."

In third round singles action on Friday, Becker will take on Auburn's Tiago Ruffoni, ranked No. 19 and the tournament's No. 13 seed, while Hornung will match up against Amer Delic of Illinois, ranked No. 88 nationally. In second round doubles Becker and Hornung face the nation's No. 17 ranked duo in Portland's Peter Malacek and Travis Parrott. Parrott captured the NCAA doubles title last May as a Georgia Bulldog then transferred to Portland over the summer.