Match Preview: Baylor vs. Duke
3/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 14, 2001
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#25 Baylor (6-3, 3-0) vs. #3 Duke (7-1)
Thursday, March 15, 2001, 2 p.m. , Waco, Texas
The Bears' 22-match home winning streak will be on the line as the 25th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team hosts No. 3 Duke in the Bears' biggest match of the year Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Streich Tennis Courts.
Baylor enters the match coming off a loss on the road against No. 20 Miami. All three of the Bears' losses this season have come on the road against top-20 teams. Baylor opened the spring with a pair of losses, then reeled off seven straight wins before losing on Friday.
The Blue Devils began the week with a 7-1 record before beginning a swing through Texas that includes matches against Texas A&M (March 13), Baylor (March 15) and TCU (March 16). Duke's only loss this season came in the semifinals of the ITA National Indoors against top-ranked Stanford.
Four Blue Devils are ranked among the nation's top 25 in singles: No. 5 Marko Cerenko, No. 6 Ramsey Smith, No. 18 Phillip King and No. 21 Andres Pedroso. Duke also has a pair of ranked doubles teams, Smith and Michael Yani rank 12th, and Pedroso and Ted Rueger are 30th. Last season, then-No. 9 Baylor upset then-No. 2 Duke in Durham, N.C., 5-2. The loss was Duke's first at home in nearly two years, and the Blue Devils have won 10 straight in Durham since then.
Team notes:
* The Baylor men have won 22 matches in a row at home, dating back to April 17, 1998, when the Bears lost to Texas A&M in the final match of the regular season.
* Baylor has won 18 of its last 19 regular season matches against Big 12 opponents, including an active streak of 12 straight.
* The Bears' current No. 25 ranking is the team's lowest ranking at any point since the team finished the 1998 season ranked 26th.
* The Baylor men's and women's tennis teams have both ranked in top 25 for the past 53 weeks, dating to March 15, 2000, when the Baylor women moved up to No. 18.
* Baylor's 0-2 start was the team's worst start since 1992, when the team also opened 0-2. The Bears have not started 0-3 since 1980.
* The two-match losing streak was Baylor's longest since 1998, when the Bears lost the final two matches of the season (Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals and NCAA first round).
* Since entering the top 25 in Dec. 1998, the Bears are 17-11 against other top-25 teams.
* Baylor is a perfect 6-0 this season when winning the doubles point, but the team is 0-3 when the opponent takes the first point. The Bears have swept doubles four times and won all four matches.
Individual notes:
Head Coach Matt Knoll: 87-49 in his sixth season, 79-33 at Baylor (in his fifth season)... His 75th win at Baylor came on the road against Tulane (2/11)... Named to Region VI Advisory Committee for the 2001 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships.
Csongor Bibza: Ranks fifth in school history in career singles wins (44)... Sixth in the Baylor record book in career doubles wins (66), two behind fifth-place Johannes Michalsky... Advanced to the B Singles quarterfinals of the Rice Invitational (1/19-1/20)... Beat No. 24 Rene-Charles Combette of Mississippi State in Starkville (1/27).
Zoltan Papp: Had a pre-fall ranking of No. 41, but dropped out of the poll after missing the fall due to injury (ACL tear)... Named preseason all-Big 12 in singles... Saw his first action of the spring (doubles only) against Lamar (1/31)... Returned to the singles lineup with a straight-set win at Tulane (2/11)... Won his first five singles matches after returning, and has won his first six doubles matches.
Mark Williams: Ranks second in school history with 84 career singles wins, 10 wins behind record-holder Johann Jooste, and is second in career doubles wins (76), three behind David Hodge... Earned his first career singles ranking in September (No. 68)... Suffered an injury against Mississippi State (1/27) which forced him to miss the match against Lamar (1/31) and continues to bother him... Named preseason all-Big 12 in singles.
Other Notes: Freshman Reiner Neurohr earned his first career singles ranking in December at No. 91... Freshman Cory Ross advanced to the C Singles Semifinals at the Rice Invitational (1/19-1/20)... Freshman Matias Marin has won his first seven matches to begin his collegiate career.
Doubles notes:
* The team of freshman Reiner Neurohr and senior Mark Williams earned a doubles ranking of No. 20 before ever playing a match together... Ranked as high as No. 4 (December 2000)... The pair was named preseason all-Big 12.
* The team of Csongor Bibza and Cory Ross has settled in at the No. 2 spot, racking up one six-match win streak and another five match win streak this season.
